Are you talking about love? maybe
by Cranberriez
Summary: Basically a Dominic Howard story, he's the drummer from Muse in case you didn't know :D
1. Chapter I

The man had you up against the wall, and the stink of alcohol confirmed your fears that he was well and truly pissed off his head. He'd taken your bag, with your phone and purse in it, and was now trying to force you towards his van, but you'd worked out that he was old enough (and drunk enough) for you to fight him off if you kept at it. You weren't winning yet though, he changed direction and the element of surprise caught you out as he shoved you roughly into a dark side-street.

"So darlin', seeyinazya not gonna do warri tell you, owzbout a quick snog forderoad, huh?" He leaned in towards you but you slapped him round the face. You started to scream for help but he shoved one foul smelling hand over your mouth and fumbled around in his coat with the other. You were trying all you could- kicking, punching, knee-to-the-groin business, but then the knife appeared and you went limp from the terror that you were now in serious danger. It didn't look like he was going to hurt you with it, just threaten you.

"So owzabout dis kiss den sweedart?" He slurred, and once again leaned in, but this time the cold of the knife was on your arm and the most you could do in defence was turn your head. A car whizzed past, far too fast to see what was going on, and you sobbed in despair as you fought against your captor. Suddenly the blade nicked your arm, and your surprise and pain made you more vunerable; now he was (making a drunken attempt at) kissing you, and you could smell his breath and feel the blood running down your arm and the pain of the blade still there and the slowing of a car engine and the shouting and running footsteps- you and the man both turned in surprise at your rescuers, but the man recovered first and ran off, still in possession of your bag.

It was funny, but your legs couldn't seem to hold you up any more and you collapsed on to the floor. You tried to call out to the three figures who had saved you, but couldn't, you couldn't even breathe. It was then that the pain hit, and as you looked down and registered the knife sticking out of your side you almost passed out. Infact, you would have, if it weren't for the man who rushed over to see if you were alright.

From what you could see in the darkness he had sandy hair, and browny-green eyes. He was quite tall. That's about all you could tell. He knelt down next to you, and you tried to speak to him but the words still wouldn't come out. You noticed over his shoulder that the other two that had been with him had caught up with the man that had stabbed you. One of them was on the phone- _hopefully to the ambulance,_ you thought. The man next to you gently moved the hair off your face and settled his hand on your cheek. "Are you OK?" He asked quickly, looking horrified. You couldn't answer, you were in too much pain. The man looked at a loss once he saw you weren't going to reply. He looked around as if the answer to his question would be lying on the floor somewhere, and that was when he saw the stab wound, and the amount of blood. His eyes widened and he breathed "fuck...". He looked up again into your eyes, and couldn't think of anything to say, but his thumb stroked your cheek and his hand tightened around your face.

"Chris..." he shouted urgently over his shoulder, still looking at you. "Chris, call an ambulance, she's- she's been stabbed." By now the police had arrived and the disgusting pig who had done this to you was wrestled into the car and driven away. One of the men who'd held him back quickly took out a phone, presumably to call the ambulance, so his name must be Chris.

The other one came over to you. He crouched down behind you, and asked the sandy-haired man "Is she ok?" But as he said it he leant in, and his knee pressed against your wound. You cried out in pain and he quickly recoiled, while the other hissed "Fucking hell Matt, watch what you're doing!". Matt, as you now knew his name to be, apologized about a million times and seemed to decide he'd be better off standing with the other bloke- Chris. He walked away, and the man whose name you were still yet to know mumbled "sorry" at you, but he said it as if he wasn't expecting an answer, and looked over his shoulder to check for the ambulance. But the pain had numbed a little now, either that or you were just going into shock, but you felt calm enough to open your mouth without screaming.

"It's ok," you mumbled back, half hoping he wouldn't hear. You were still very conscious that a rather good looking stranger had his hand on your face.

However, he turned back to you with a stunning smile on his face _(hell, he does have a cute smile :D)_ and replied "Ah! She speaks!" in a joke-y but soft and gentle voice. He was obviously still aware of your injuries, and what had happened to you.

You were sure that your blush would show through the blood on your face as you mumbled "sorry...", but he shook his head, still smiling.

"You shouldn't be the one apologizing. You _have_ been stabbed, and beaten up pretty badly, y'know..." He said, but the realization seemed to sink in at the end and his smile slowly faded, replaced by a worried expression. He bit his lip.

At this moment you were trying very hard not to hyperventilate. This man was _gorgeous._ And who cared that you'd probably never see him again after today, at least he seemed to care about you at the moment. As you'd been talking, reality seemed to sweep back into view and you started to think not just about the here and now, but about everything else. What about your family? They were living in Scotland at the moment, and you were here just on your own, having bagged a journalist job. This train of thought led you on to memories of when you got the job, your impression of the office, the posters all over your neighbour's desk... Correction. The posters of _Muse_ all over your neighbour's desk. The posters of _Muse..._

"Oh my god." Your last thought slipped out from between your lips as the realisation hit you. _*chris, matt...*_ you remembered the names of the other two men, but they were too far away for you to see their faces. But it couldn't just be a coincidence that the third man just happened to look **_exactly like Dominic Howard? _**The man in question looked bewildered at your outburst, and your expression of pure shock and surprise, but seemed to take it the wrong way.

"What? What is it? Is it getting worse? Fucking Teignmouth ambulances..." The last part he said to himself. You didn't pay much attention, however. You were rather pre-occupied with trying to recognise the guy named Matt over who might be Dominic Howard's shoulder. You knew once you saw Matt's face, you'd know for sure. But you decided to put (the guy who might be) Dom at ease.

"No, I'm fine, well, not _fine_, I'm just..." You said, but then Matt turned round and your suspicions were confirmed. You stared open-mouthed at him for a second, then back to Dom, then to Matt, then (realising what an idiot you must look) at the floor. Dom turned round to Matt, looking mightily confused, but then turned back and realisation hit his face, followed swiftly by a smirk. You didn't look up.

"Oh..." he breathed, sounding _extremely_ smug. "You've worked out who we are." You're sure he didn't mean to, but his voice sounded _really _seductive. Or maybe he _did_ mean it to...

You looked up at him, and he was still looking at you with a rather sexy smirk on his face. You were determined not to look as star-struck as you felt, but thought you ought to play it a teensy bit humble. You smiled a very embarrased smile, took a deep breath, and said "...yep." He laughed at your expression, and it broke the new-found tension. You smiled genuinely at him, but kept a little bit of an apology in your eyes for what seemed to you like a massive over-reaction. He kept smiling, but suddenly looked curious.

"How the hell are you smiling? I mean, you must be in a lot of pain..." he asked, and you just replied truthfully.

"Um, well whenever I get hurt I don't really panic, I just naturally go kind of... calm? I don't know what the word is, but- I don't run around screaming or get really paranoid or anything. After a bit I just... settle into it. It's weird." You laughed again, and a quick glance told you the smile was back on his face.

"Fair enough," he said, but he started to smirk at you again and your heart beat quicker as you anticipated another embarassment... "But it seemed to me that you were breathing quite quickly earlier on, I mean you were calm and everything- as you say- but you seemed a little... tense." he said, seeming already to know that it was because you found him rather attractive...

But then Matt came over and you had an excuse to look away from his eyes- only after they had left yours, however. He seemed to possess such a powerful gaze that it was almost impossible to look away.

"The ambulance is just round the corner, apparently there was a false alarm or something and thats why it took so long," Matt said, and Dom nodded to acknowledge him.

"Uh, sorry about earlier, um, I spose I wasn't really looking what I was-" he said to you, but you interrupted him.

"Seriously, don't worry, I'm fine-" but your wound chose that moment to complain that no, you weren't fine, and you winced. Matt just looked even more worried and backed off once again, and Dom smiled.

"He's a worrier. Look, the ambulance's here, you'll be fine. Especially with all this smiling" he tipped your chin up so you were once again lost in his eyes, and you couldn't help but smile back at him.

"There, see? Well, I suppose I'll see you in a bit... or maybe more than a bit..." He said as he analyzed the stern faces of the emergency doctors who were now advancing. You were surprised.

"Really? I thought you wouldn't care!" you said as he stood up. Silly as it was, you were desperate to be with him, any of them, for as long as possible.

"Me?" He said, in mock offense. "Nah, I'm not a ditcher. I want to see that you're ok, that's all." He flashed you a brilliant smile, but you were still curious.

"...But you don't know who I am, I mean, why should you care?"

"Because I'm nice. But that's a fair point. What's your name?" he replied, his face once again inches from yours. You could feel his breath as you replied.

"Louisa. Louisa Marwick. ...but I prefer Lou, I suppose." you replied, trying to sound as casual as you possibly could. Then you realised that was stupid- you were meant to be in pain! If only you hadn't recognised him, your mind wouldn't be in this mess. But then again you would never have known, and if you'd found out after you would have killed yourself. But...

"Nice to meet you then... Lou. Um, I'll see you later I spose..." He interrupted your internal argument and stood up, getting out of the way for the paramedics.

"You don't have to-" you called as they lifted you on to a stretcher, trying to tell him he didn't have to waste his time on you, but he cut you off.

"Yes I do."


	2. Chapter II

_Dom's P.O.V_

I really thought I was on to something here. I mean, I know it was a little strange, finding her because she'd got stabbed, but I was serious. The others, however, were incredulous.

"Dom you are a fucking flirt and no mistake." Matt said when I suggested going down to the hospital to see how she was doing. I mean, I'd only said it as a passing remark and all of a sudden they were seeing right through me.

"Yeah, you'll just let her down, like you always do. She doesn't deserve that after what she's been through." Chris added. I smiled a little at the unintended rhyme, but then pulled a serious face for my reply.

"Guys, I sincerely just want to check she's alright." I _tried_ to sound sincere. I guess they just know me too well.

"Listen mate, if you want to flirt with her and 'forfill her fangirl dreams' or whatever the fuck, we are coming with you." Chris said.

"Yeah, we're not having another Leah situation." Matt chipped in. Seriously, it was like they were ganging up on me. But I spose the Leah thing _was_ a good point.

I hadn't met Leah in such a dramatic way as I'd met... what was her name... oh yeah, Lou. Well, it wasn't dramatic at all. Basically, she just asked me for my autograph, I thought she was hot, and bingo. I guess thats how I roll. But after three or four months she really seemed to be falling for me, and trust me, I'm not a 'settling down' kinda guy. And there was this really fit chick I'd met somewhere or other the night before, and I invited her round, and Leah decided to 'surprise' me, and saw me and this other girl... um... yeah. She blew up pretty badly, and I guess I kinda broke her heart. I did feel bad, I'm not a complete bastard, it's just that she should have known what I was like, I mean I'm a rockstar, for god's sake. But basically, that was what Matt and Chris meant by a 'Leah situation'. They didn't want me to break another girl's heart.

"Fine, you can _escort_ me if you wish gentlemen, but I assure you if one of you even _looks_ at this girl before I have then you will have to deal with my, erm... wrath." The words didn't sound at all as convincing as I'd meant them to, and they both fell about laughing. I sat there stony faced, not amused.

"Dom, we're not gonna try anything, she's yours. Just... if you're not ever gonna settle down, don't delude her into thinking she's 'the one', okay?" Matt said, after recovering slightly. Chris was still sat there with a massive grin on his face at my complete failure of speech, but all I did was give him a special Dom-death-stare. He was too big and scary to confront.

_Your P.O.V_

You'd finally woken up, and the pain was almost non-existent. After a couple of days of deathly boredom you began to wonder what they still had you in there for. Apparently your muscles had been damaged and needed time to rejuvenate, but you felt fine. And the hospital wasn't a very nice place to be, with nothing to do, and only sick people to watch. One glorious day your family came to see you and the whole day was filled with catching up on things, and generally chatting the hours away. But it went so quickly, and they had to leave because there weren't any other conveniant return-trips to Scotland or something, so once again you were left with nothing to do. When the day finally came for you to be released, you wondered what the hell you were going to do. You hoped your work would still accept you, so far all you'd done was sign up, no interviews completed, nothing. And it was Saturday, so you had two exciting days of nothing to look forward to once you got home. _But at least I'm out of this hospital..._

As you were leaving, one of the junior nurses came running up to you.

"Louisa Marwick?" She asked.

"Yeah, why, is there a problem? Do I need to stay longer?" You replied, hoping that wasn't the case.

"Um... not exactly... um, someone came in to visit you while you were still out, well three people actually, they said they didn't know you very well but just came to see if you were ok, and one of them, um, left his number with me, and he said he wanted me to give it to you, but I could keep it if I liked, so would it be ok if you just put it into your phone or something?" By this time the nurse was blushing furiously and speaking very quickly, so you just agreed. You took your phone out and entered the number she told you. You noticed she knew it off by heart.

"Er... why couldn't you have given me it earlier? Why now?"

"Well, I don't work in the department you were in, and, um, he said I should keep it a secret." She said the last part like a little girl, which just made you more bemused.

"And... what was his name?" you asked, trying to see if this was some random perv or someone you actually knew.

"Um... Dominic," she said, smiling from ear to ear and blushing profusely._ Blimey, what did this bloke do to her? He must be a flirt..._ But then you realised something.

"Wait, Dominic _Howard_?" You asked her as she was about to walk away.

"Yeah... he said to call the nearest Saturday after you woke up!" She suddenly looked really excited, like you were her best friend. "I mean, it's Saturday _today!_ So, um, good luck! And um, if you wouldn't mind, um, could you get me his autograph?" she said, almost squealing like an excitable schoolgirl.

"Um, sure, but why didn't you get it when he gave you this?" You asked, meaning the back to the hospital just to give her his autograph would only be hassle.

"Oh, well, he was only quick, but..." she looked at the ceiling and sighed, as if that explained it. And it kind of did. "Well, I am sooo jealous of you, but good luck!" And with a cheesy smile and thumbs up, she almost skipped back to wherever she'd appeared from in the first place.

_Ok, so Dom Howard has a reputation._ You walked out, after staring in the junior nurse's direction in disbelief for a couple of seconds. You decided to drive home before you did anything though, as you suspected you could tell _exactly_ where you just had been, from your hair alone. Hospitals don't do good for your looks.

When you'd got home, showered, and altogether sorted yourself out, you deliberated whether this was actually a good idea. You stared at your phone for a couple of seconds, but then gave in to your instincts and dialled the number. A guy that looked _that_ good was surely worth your time.

"Matt, piss off." was your greeting. You were stumped for a couple of seconds.

"...Um, sorry?" you said tentatively, hoping you hadn't got the wrong number. Then, strange as it seemed, you were sure you heard the sound of something being knocked over then very hastily replaced on the other side of the line.

"Oh, shit, um, sorry, I thought you were... someone else." He said, sounding rather embarassed.

"I gathered that. Um, well, this is, um, Lou..." _Oh god you sound like such an idiot, do you really think he'd remeber you just by your name? Act normal_. "I'm out of hospital, and..."

"You're out? That's great!" He said, and you inwardly sighed in relief as he recognised you. "The nurse gave you my number then. I thought she wouldn't... but I did _make_ her promise..." he seemed to say the last part to himself.

"Oh, so she was all flustered because you _made_ her promise." you said, realising your suspicions that he was a flirt were basically confirmed.

"Oh come on, if you've got fame, and if you look like me,you might as well use it!" He said, sounding offended, but maybe a little... proud?

"Not too modest then," you replied, smiling at his plain boasting.

"Ah, I've learnt not to be. It's what people expect. Anyway, enough about my stunningly good looks, give me your address."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh come on, you must have guessed by now... I'm-"

"Yes, I _know_, but I didn't realise you'd be so up-front about it."

"I don't want to waste time we could be spending together" he replied, and you heard a snort coming from someone else in the room, followed by a thud and a loud 'ow!'. You laughed.

"Chris..." he muttered. "But anyway, where do you live?"

"Couldn't we just meet up somewhere?" You asked. You weren't too sure about giving your address to a stranger, never mind how nice he sounded (or how good he looked).

"No, I insist." There was a pause, then he asked "You're not worried about me breaking in or something once I know where you live? No offence but I doubt your house would hold anything I want... apart from you of course" he added seductively, and before you answered you heard another snort, another thud, and another (though marginally louder) 'OW!'

"So? address?" Dom asked, sounding like he wanted to get away from Chris. You paused for a second, then finally gave in.

"33, Meadow Lane, off the highstreet."

"Yeah, I know where that is... gotcha." He sounded like he was looking on a map or something. "Well, see you in 10 minutes then!"

"Aren't you going to tell me where-" you began, but he'd hung up.

You didn't know quite what to make of this character. He was very forward, verging on pushy and rude, but some people are just like that. And maybe it all added to his sexiness... wait, you hardly knew the guy, you couldn't start making assumptions yet, he might be horrible!

"Looks don't always mirror character, I suppose..." you sighed, but _god_ you hoped that in this case, they did.


	3. Chapter III

_Your P.O.V_

You were glad you'd had the faint idea of getting ready to go out _before_ calling Dom. But as you sat and waited for the 10 minutes he'd given you, you began to regret it. You had that really uncomfortable feeling when you're waiting to go out, and you got even more nervous as you paced around the kitchen. You supposed that the fact it was _Dom Howard_ taking you out didn't help, either.

_Dom's P.O.V_

This had gone better than I planned. I had no idea what she was like, because of course when I first met her she wasn't in a position to 'be herself', and when I went to see her at the hospital she was still out. But she seemed like a really nice person on the phone, and, I've kind of set all my hopes on her to be the first to actually understand that all I want is a free relationship, that could easily just become friendship if I wanted to move on. The other guys tell me that girls dont _do_ that, that she'd get jealous, but, I suppose it's worth a try. And I bet Matt's just jealous of _me_. I can see he wants her.

As I pulled into the road I knew so well from my childhood, I wondered if she'd been living here long enough to have met my parents. They were basically her neighbours, just a side road seperating their houses. I wondered if this was coincidence, a sign of fate that this might actually work out? No, who am I kidding, I don't beleive in all that. I walked up to her front door, not feeling in the slightest bit nervous. Being nervous just gets in the way of things. I rang her doorbell, and almost straight away the door opened, and I saw her in a 'normal' state for the first time.

And oh my god. _She was wearing purple skinnies._

_Your P.O.V_

The doorbell rang and you jumped out of your seat and unlocked the door, without even thinking. This was the first time you'd seen each other properly, without the cover of darkness, and you were lost for words as you took in the casual black shirt and sunglasses and bright pink skinnies (oh my god.) and utter _gorgeousness_ that was your date. Soon enough, you realised that you were _very obviously_ checking him out, and you must look a right idiot. So you stopped yourself and just looked at his face, but you could swear that he'd just done exactly the same thing. Then you mentally slapped yourself for wishful thinking.  
He smiled at you- a really cute, genuine albeit slightly nervous smile, and broke the silence.

"Um, should we go?"

"Yeah, sorry..." you replied, the last word almost a whisper. He didn't seem to hear. You locked the door behind you and he walked you down to his car, seeming a completely different character from the one you'd spoken to on the phone. Much more reserved, and... nervous? You couldn't see any reason why he should be, but that seemed to be the case. He opened the door for you, and you smiled at him in thanks.

Nervous as he seemed, he was ready to smile back, keeping your gaze for a couple of seconds and then leaving you hardly enough time to recover as he walked over to his side of the car. You knew you were going to embarass yourelf. You could just tell.

_Dom's P.O.V_

God, why was I so nervous? Seriously, I had no reason to be. I'm fucking _Dominic Howard!_ I guess it was because she seemed to have this... aura of intelligence around her. Like she was actually on level pegging with me, unlike so many girls I've had before, who readily fit the category of 'dumb blonde'. And when she caught me checking her out in the doorway- god, that just made my heart go even faster, rather than the smug feeling I usually get. I used the short amount of time when she was in the car and I was outside to try and sort my head out. She wasn't going to make me trip up. I had to take control of this one, and not let her get a hold on me. But maybe that was what I wanted? Maybe that was why I'd never been able to maintain a proper relationship before- becasue I'd never found anyone good enough for me? Suddenly I realised how long I was taking in getting to my side of the car, but a quick glance told me she wasn't looking. Good. Right, now just take this lightly, start a conversation, get back into the old Dom that can get any girl he wants and isn't afraid of anything.

I stepped into the car and tried to look casual- as if I hadn't just spent an hour walking three metres. But she seemed to be as nervous as I was... as I was _a couple of minutes ago._ Well, it was good that she was nervous. That meant I could easily take control of this one. I started the engine, and the conversation.

"So... did you know that you're practically next door neighbours with my parents?" _Great Dom. Really imaginative. Really interesting._

"Really? No I didn't... I've only just moved here," she replied. At least she thought more of the conversation topic than I did.

"Oh right, where from?" I was just filling the silence here. Of course I wasn't _genuinely_ interested. I never am...

"Scotland, actually." She said it as if it was embarassing. "I've just got a job as a journalist for the paper..."

"Oh cool. I've only just come back myself, actually. Been on tour." I threw that one in, just to remind her who she was with. "What on earth drove you to move from Scotland to Teignmouth?" I continued, with disgust creeping into my voice at the sound of my 'hometown'. I hated Teignmouth.

"Well, I..." She paused. "I actually have no idea. I suppose I could have got the same job somewhere else, Bristol would've been better."

"Why Bristol?"

"It's where I was born. We moved to Scotland... four years ago? But I was a Bristol child." she said, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, I wondered why you didn't have a Scottish accent..." I said. _You're really getting better at these conversation lines, Dom._

She laughed. "I used to have a really strong Bristolian accent. But I guess I lost it with all the travelling I did. Infact, the travelling's probably what brought me to Teignmouth. I liked it here, so I stayed." I snorted at the fact that someone could actually _like_ Teignmouth.

"Why don't you like it here then?" She asked. I stared at her for a couple of seconds, wondering how she could have worked that out so quickly. But then I remembered I was supposed to be driving, and voiced my thoughts instead.

"How did you work that one out?"

"It's pretty much obvious. I mean, I didn't know why you were looking at this road with so much distaste when you picked me up, but then you said your parents lived here and I kinda put two and two together..." she trailed off, sounding embarassed again. The words _Sherlock Holmes_ floated through my mind as she made me sound so easy to read. I found myself getting nervous again.

"Wow." That was all I could say really, even though it went totally against my whole 'super-cool-Dom-Howard' look. She just smiled at me, and I had to try very hard not to meet her eyes, and concentrate on the road.

_Your P.O.V_

You couldn't quite believe that you'd managed to have a normal conversation with him. You'd managed to tell him loads about you without feeling _too_ uncomfortable, and you had to admit it was quite cute when you asked him why he didn't like Teignmouth and he just stared at you. But you felt a bit embarassed when you explained how you knew. You felt that people like Dom wouldn't like intelligent girls, that they would much rather go for the ignorant ones that just hung on to their every word and didn't question it. But it was who you were. After a moment's silence where Dom seemed to comprehend what you'd last told him, he pulled up outside a classic highstreet scene. You hadn't been in Teignmouth long enough to have a proper explore, and this highstreet was completely new to you.

"Anywhere you particularly want to go? I don't mind if you have any preferences" Dom said, looking over at you once he'd cut the engine.

"Umm... well I've never really been here before, you must know it better than I do," you replied, feeling a bit guilty at not being able to come up with anything.

"Ok, well there's a Starbucks just round the corner..." he said, sounding unsure.

"Well, you can't beat that I spose!" You said, hoping that it would geta bit less awkward soon enough.

You both got out of the car, and he grinned as he saw you didn't know which way to go.

"C'mere," he said, and pulled your arm through his, leading you in the right direction.

"I was wondering... doesn't the thought of being recognised bother you at all?" You asked, but what you really meant was _'doesn't the thought of being recognised, and seen with someone like me bother you at all?_

"Not really, no. I don't mind what people think of me here" He said, and you hoped that he was answering both questions. You couldn't think of anything else to say, but as you turned the corner he spoke again.

"Um... I was going to say before... uh... I love your skinnies." He said, with a smile. You'd both stopped, and were looking at each other.

"Aw come on, really?" You said back, with a disbeleiving look on your face.

"...yeah," he said, looking slightly confused at your expression.

"Suit yourself, but they're no match for yours..." you replied as you glanced down at the bright pinkness that was his skinnies. He glanced down as well, then laughed and pulled you into the Starbucks.

"Now, you see, I like you already." He said with a grin on his face as you found a table.

"Good good." You replied, but what he'd said meant much more to you than that.


	4. Chapter IV

_Your P.O.V_

The date went well. Really well. It got easier and easier to talk to Dom, and you both found yourselves relaxing more and more as it went on. The conversation went along pretty much the same structure as in the car, one of you asking questions and the other one answering until you reached a point where you went off on a tangent about something totally random, and completely forgot the previous subject; so started again with a new one. You spent about two hours in Starbucks as the time went so quickly, but then Dom offered to take you on a tour round the highstreet and the general local area, and eventually you found yourselves on a bench in the middle of the park, next to a community centre or sports centre or something. You never seemed to run out of things to talk about, and before you knew it the whole place was deserted and it was getting dark. You were the first to realise.

"Er… Dom, what's the time?" you asked, noticing the change in light.

"Blimey, it's 8:30!" he exclaimed. You'd gone out at 1:30, and you noticed for the first time that the park was deserted: before you'd just been concentrating on Dom's face. "D'you want to make a move then?" he said, trying to hide the fact that he was embarrassed to keep you out so long. It almost looked like he thought he'd wasted your time.

"Yeah, if you don't mind…" you said, but decided to settle him a bit by saying "I seriously haven't had this much fun in ages… thanks."

"But we just… talked," Dom said, clearly with a different idea of fun than you.

"Exactly." You said, and stood up. "I hate people who try too hard." you continued, just as Dom started to say "I would've done more-", but then he realised the contradiction and smiled, a little sheepishly. You just laughed, you wouldn't have minded either way.

You made your way back to the car- in silence for a change, as if talking about the present had broken the spell you were under before.

The car journey was also silent- but the atmosphere was one of content, so you didn't feel uncomfortable, just a little sleepy. When he got to your house, it was properly dark. You turned to him before getting out, reluctant to leave the warm interior of the car.

"Dom, I mean it. Thankyou so much." you said, meeting his eye. He looked away, a little embarrassed, yet happy at the compliment.

"S'alright…" He replied, still unsure whether to look you in the eye or not. To be honest, neither were you, and there was a couple of seconds of uncertainty before your eyes finally met, and you both knew the right thing to do.

You both leaned in slowly, and your lips met. Your eyes were closed and your heart beating wildly. The kiss didn't last longer than 10 seconds, but making it into a full-blown snog wouldnt've been right, and you both pulled away, but only slightly. You looked down, and his lips were almost brushing your forehead as he whispered "Bye…"

Then you looked up so your faces were level; you could feel him breathing and it was so loud in the darkness of his car. You were sure he could hear your heart, it was going so fast. You couldn't quite look him in the eye, but you managed it after replying- "Bye, Dom…" As your eyes met you could have easily kissed him again, but he smiled at you and pulled back, only a centimetre, but it was enough to make it final. You also pulled back, your eyes downward, and didn't meet his gaze at all as you got out of the car. You had to be extra careful not to trip over all your emotions as you walked up your driveway, because he was still there, waiting to see that you'd got in safely. As you closed the door you sprinted to your living room window just in time to see him pull away and drive off from the perfect day you'd just shared.

_Dom's P.O.V_

_Why_ didn't I kiss her again? I could've, but somehow… it didn't feel right to. God, I've never felt anything like that before. Seriously, she had my heart going with that first kiss. Talk about perfect moments in life…

It was a long time before I got back, mostly because I was thinking about Lou, and not about the way home. I was still in the dream-like state from the kiss when I walked in and collapsed on the sofa, but of course my wonderful best friend broke the spell easily enough.

"Wasn't expecting you home tonight! Blimey, that's got to be the first time in _years_ you haven't fucked on the first date… Dom? Hello? Can you hear me? Ok, now you're just ignoring me on purpose, you bastard." _I love you too, Matt._

"She wasn't… like that." I managed to mumble, and despite being over the other side of the room by now, he still managed to hear me. He rushed over, in mock surprise, definitely over-reacting, although I could tell a small portion of it was genuine.

"You're not telling me you're in _love?_" He said, mocking but incredulous. "On the first date? God, I wouldn't be surprised if she was a gold-digger…"

"Fuck off, Matt. Leave me in peace. I need sleep." _And time to replay this afternoon over again in my head…_

"Dear god, he _is_ in love. How romantic." Matt said, but the mocking tone was starting to wear off now as he saw I was serious. A slight pause, in which I thought he'd actually left me alone, before his annoying voice cut through the silence again. "Seriously, if she's having this affect on _you_, I've _got_ to meet her." He said.

"I don't think so." I retorted. If I answered him in any more than short, snappy sentences, he'd undoubtedly take it as an opportunity to start a conversation, which was the last thing I wanted.

"Whyever not? You can't seriously be thinking she'd choose me over the almighty _Dom Howard…_" He said, over the other side of the room again. I didn't reply, and pretended to be asleep. But in truth, I wondered if what Matt said was true. Of course, if she was just any old girl, she'd never choose Matt over me. No offence to him, but _my_ kind of girls aren't really his type. Well, what I _thought_ were my kind of girls. Lou seemed different. And I wondered if she'd just see me as one of those guys who picks up girls for a night or two and then leaves them with no goodbyes. Wondered if she'd see me as who I really am when it comes to girls. Or who I used to be.

"Oh for _fuck's_ sake!" I shouted out loud. How could one girl make all this difference? It was impossible.

"What've I done now?" Matt shouted back from the next room.

"Err… nothing." I replied, trying to get my head straight. What I needed now was sleep. I didn't want to mull this over. I'd just leave this whole thing and forget about her, and go back to what I used to be. Life was better that way, anyway. Or was it? This sounds _really _clichéd, but she'd shown me a new way of living and now I wasn't sure if I liked it better or not.

Well, one thing was for certain. She was not going _anywhere near _Matthew Bellamy.

I woke up the next morning and wondered where my pillow was. But then I realised I'd fallen asleep on the sofa. Well- I'd fallen_ asleep_ on the sofa, the matter that I was now on the floor about a metre away hardly made any difference. Then, Matt chose that moment to come down the stairs, perfectly groomed and fresh as he always is in the mornings, while I was lying on the floor, still trying to remember _why_ I hadn't been capable of going upstairs to my room.

"Morning, sunshine." He said in an annoyingly patronising voice.

"Fuck off." I said, rolling over, and crashing into the table-leg.

"Breakfast?" He asked, still too cheery for my liking.

"No." I said. I mean, I _was_ hungry, but I wasn't about to let him win.

"Fair enough." He replied. "Oh, you have a missed call on your mobile, I _think_ it might be important to you…" He said, but I saw right through his smugness.

"It's from Lou, isn't it…" I muttered, slowly getting up and massaging my arm where it had smashed into the table-leg.

"You know, you're far too clever when you wake up. Seriously, it's annoying. I mean, if you were a normal person I'd be able to take advantage of your tiredness when you wake up, but no…" Matt jabbered on to himself as I went in search of my mobile. I'd literally looked in every room when I realised it was in my pocket. _Fucking hell Dom, get a grip… _I found the missed call. Yes, it was from Lou. And it had been half an hour ago. I hurriedly rang back.

"Hello?" she said, and her voice brought back all the memories from yesterday. I smiled.

"Hey Lou, it's Dom, I'm really sorry I couldn't pick up, I was kind of… asleep…" _Why did you say that, you idiot?_

She laughed. "It's ok. Basically, um, I've done a really stupid thing… I've kind of… well… locked myself out, and cos I've only just moved here no-one has my key, so I was wondering if you… I've got someone coming to get the door open, you know they have one of those keys that can open anything, but he can't come until four, and you're the only person I know really, so I was wondering if you wouldn't mind… um… if I spent the day with you? I'm really sorry, I'm such an idiot…" She trailed off, and by this time I was back downstairs, with food on my mind. I was also grinning like an idiot.

"No, that's fine, I don't mind!" I replied, sorting some cereal.

"My god, you fit the description 'lovestruck fool' perfectly…" Matt said from in the corner. I chucked the Cheerios at him.

"Thanks… what was that?" Lou said, and I hoped she hadn't heard what Matt'd said…

"My wonderful housemate. Listen, where are you?" I tried to brush over the subject of Matt and get on to my day with her. God, I was far too excited already…

"Um, well I've just been wandering around to be honest, so I'm not that sure, wait I have a road sign… Watermill Lane? And the house number is… 49. Ring any bells?"

"Yeah, I know where that is." I felt really guilty at having missed her call, so I was eager to get there as soon as possible.

"I went down the highstreet actually, but everything's shut…" She said as I abandoned my breakfast and ran upstairs to get myself looking normal. Trust me, in my world, _bed hair_ is a sin. But then the realisation sank in of what she'd said.

"Oh… yeah, well Teignmouth is pretty traditional, everything shuts on a Sunday…" I said, realising this meant I'd have to try and interest her in the pitiful country lanes around here that had about as much beautiful scenery as a toilet seat. Either that or take her back to meet Matt. Which was of course out of the question.

"Oh I see… well I'll just stay here and wait, cos I have no idea where I am…" She said, which just made me feel even more guilty.

"Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can…" I said, almost pulling my hair out in an effort to get it to _stay flat!_

"Thanks Dom… see you in a minute then…"

"Yeah… bye" I hoped I didn't seem too abrupt when I hung up, but on top of my hair there was also the question of what outfit to wear today. And trust me, that takes _time_.

"Finished faffing about then?" Matt said when I rushed downstairs. I ignored him, and raced outside.

When I got to the road, it had just began to spot with rain. Then I saw her, and pressed a little too hard on the breaks. She got in, and smiled at me, and I returned the smile, feeling again that weird emotion that was nervousy but comfortable at the same time.

"So, um… do you fancy going for a walk or something?" I said quietly, but halfway through mother nature decided to ruin my life and the rain was absolutely pissing it down, the hammering on the car drowning out my words.

"Blimey, good timing!" She said, raising her voice above the noise, looking incredulously out the window at the sudden downpour. Which was good, because I think I looked a little more than disappointed. "What were you saying?" She asked, still looking out the window, mesmerised.

"Doesn't matter…" I replied, and started the engine, in a really immature sulk. But it wasn't fair! Before I set off, I surreptitiously and rather quickly (if I say so myself) texted Matt-

_get out of the house._

This done, I started driving home, taking the longest way possible. He replied pretty quickly, but I was driving so Lou offered to open the text. I nodded, she'd suspect something if I'd said no. I hoped Matt hadn't put anything obscene.

"Um, it says 'no chance'…" she said, bewildered. I sighed, hoping the rain would drown me out, before smiling at her.

"Don't worry, it's just this stupid argument…" I said, trying to resign to the fact that she was going to _have_ to meet Matt. He wouldn't 'keep out of the way' like Chris or someone would, knowing him he'd just muscle in on everything.

"You know, I can actually think of something I didn't manage to ask you yesterday," I said, trying to keep the subject light, but I still had the meeting with Matt on my mind.

"Really? I'm surprised!" She said, laughing.

"Are you musical? I mean, I hadn't really thought of it before, but with me in a band and everything…" I trailed off, hoping she wouldn't share Matt's greatest talent.

"Oh yeah! I hadn't thought of that either… I am actually!" _Oh shit. _"I like all sorts, I mean I love what you do…" she said with a smile, "But I like classical stuff and that as well" _Hoorah._ "I played the flute when I was a kid, and I still mess around on the piano a bit…" _Piano? You have got to be kidding me. _"And I suppose I can kind of manage guitar, but I taught myself that one so I spose that doesn't count." _Great. Right up Matt's street._ "But to be honest, they're all pretty common instruments…" _Aha, this is getting better… _"I seriously don't know how you play drums, I mean, I'd love to be able to but I'd have no idea where to start!" She finished. I had gone from hope to absolute dread and back to hope again in a matter of seconds. I had a lead.

"Well… I could teach you if you want… once you have the basics you can begin doing your own thing and after that you can't really do anything wrong…" I said, trying not to sound like too much of a 'smug expert.'

"Really? That'd be amazing, I'd love to…" She replied, and I could hear the smile in her voice. What can I say except… _score!_

_Your P.O.V_

You wondered how on earth you'd managed to bag drum lessons after just two days! It was amazing; Dom was so easy to talk to and you felt like you'd known him a lot longer than you actually had. He pulled up outside his house and it hit you that it was still tipping down and you had to get up the drive… He seemed to realize the same thing.

"Ready?" He said, looking at you with a grin on his face. You grinned back, and counted down.

"3…2…1…" you opened your door and slammed it shut, running round the car and up to the door, but he'd got there before you.

"That's not fair I was on the road side!" You complained as he fumbled with the keys. You were quite close together under the porchy bit, avoiding the rain.

"Yes, but, um… you're smaller and therefore better at running?" He replied, after stumbling over finding an excuse. You both burst out laughing at the absurdity of what he'd said, and almost fell through the door in an attempt to keep as dry as possible. _Which is pointless, seeing as we're both already soaked._

Sitting at the table across the room was Dom's 'wondeful housemate', as he had put it so sarcastically. Even knowing in advance who it was going to be, you couldn't help but stare at Matthew Bellamy. But Dom soon snapped you out of it, thankfully before Matt caught you.

"Welcome to the house," he said, dumping his stuff and collapsing on the sofa, inviting you to sit next to him.

"It's usually 'welcome to _our home…_'" you replied, taking the offered seat.

"Well yeah, but I'm not really _that_ emotionally attached to this place yet. In fact, I doubt I ever will be. You done yet?" He directed the last part at Matt, who was busy typing something on the keyboard. Dom had a very confident demeanour now he was home, but still quite excitable. In other words, a bit nervous.

"Y-eah…" Matt replied as he finished typing something, his hands becoming an even faster blur as he rushed to finish, and finally shut the lid down and- almost strutted over to the chair adjacent to the sofa. He seemed just as confident as Dom in his own house, but a bit more refined and possibly slightly cocky? You stopped yourself. It was so easy for you to read people, but often you trusted yourself too much and got the wrong impression.

"Nice to meet you," He said, extending his hand, which you shook.

"Um, I'm Lou…" you began.

"I know," Matt cut you off, smiling, and glanced at Dom who seemed to deflate a little. You still weren't sure about Matt. For a small person he had quite a dominating presence.

"Well, glad that's over, come on I'll show you around." Dom said, grabbing your hand and dragging you up off the sofa. As you passed Matt you raised one eyebrow at him, as if to ask 'What's with him?'

He just shrugged and looked bewildered, yet amused.

_Matt's P.O.V_

Bloody hell.

She was fucking _gorgeous._ I never realised it in the dark that night she was attacked! I'd expected her to just be one of those plastic, giggly brunettes Dom always seems to pick up, but damn, I was wrong. I could see why he didn't want me to meet her. And on top of that, just to add to the perfection, she seemed quite _profound_, and calm and intelligent, and Dom _never _goes for those kind of girls. I mean, he's never been out with one before so he wouldn't know, but he's surprised me this time. And I suppose he didn't know what her personality was like before, anyway. He probably just did it from the looks, like he always does. I've never seen anyone like _her_ before though. And she definitely deserves better than Dom.

Well… here I am…


	5. Chapter V

_Your P.O.V_

Dom took you all round the house. You thought that if you didn't know who lived here, you would have guessed at a number of male students, just by the mess! But then he showed you through to a room that was completely different, definitely the biggest in the house, with plain white ceiling and walls, and a laminated pine floor. At the back, in the centre, was a drum kit, and the walls were lined with guitars and bass guitars, and over the far side, there was a beautiful upright piano. Of course, Dom went straight to the drum kit. You had to admit, it was something special.

"Wow, Dom…" you said, as he sat behind the kit, he looked completely at home there. He just looked down at the kit as if it was nothing, but still looked pretty pleased at your reaction.

"Oh, are we giving a demonstration?" A voice came from behind you and you turned round to see Matt walk into the room. He went and sat down at the piano.

"Yes, but not of how incredible you are at _showing off_ on the piano." Dom retorted. Matt just smirked back at him, and when you turned round Dom seemed at a bit of a loss as what to do. But then, without warning, he started drumming, amazingly loud and fast, and you jumped a mile.

"Wha-?" You started to say, but Matt seemed to understand better than you did.

"Oh, that's it, is it?" He said, and picked up one of the guitars. It was already plugged in; perhaps he'd been playing earlier? Anyway, he started to play some amazingly complicated riff, and you just stood there staring at each of them in bewilderment. As soon as Matt started playing, Dom seemed to up the game and he made the beat just a little more complicated, a little bit louder. Matt then responded in the same way, and it turned into some kind of bizarre contest between them as to who could keep up with the other.

Then without warning, Dom stopped playing, a bitter look on his face.

"Bloody hell, Matt!" he said, shaking his hands out. You didn't blame him; you'd never seen someone drum like that before. Matt had also stopped playing, and was smirking over at Dom.

"I think you owe me my £5 back, Howard," he said, resting the guitar against the wall.

"Fine. And I think you owe _me_ some privacy, _Bellamy_." Dom said, digging around in his pockets and throwing a crumpled £5 note on to the floor.

"Ok so this is a… regular thing, then?" You said, and they both looked at you as if they'd completely forgotten you were there. Dom looked a bit embarrassed, but Matt didn't look phased. He never seemed to be bothered in any way, from what you'd seen.

"Yes, and it's also a regular thing that I _always_ win." he said.

"Apart from last time," Dom cut in.

"Yes, but last time it was all three of us, and it was midnight, and I hadn't slept for three days." Matt replied matter-of-factly, and picked up the £5 note. Dom just rolled his eyes.

"You're such a bad loser" he said to Matt's retreating back, and got the finger in return. Dom still looked a bit put out from losing the 'contest', so you decided to ignore how confused and utterly amazed you felt, and went back over to him.

"How about these drum lessons then?" you said, in the hope that it would cheer him up. It worked.

"Oh yeah! Hang on, I need to find some more sticks… um, I can't remember where I put them all… I'll just go and look. Won't be a second…" He said, and rushed out of the room. When he had gone you went over to the piano and sat down, the enormity of what you'd got yourself into hitting you for the first time since you'd met Dom. The little world you'd created for yourselves on the date was absolutely perfect, but when the band came into it, and the band_mates_, you weren't sure. You began absent-mindedly messing around on the piano, not really playing anything specific.

"Nice." a voice at the doorway said. You turned around to find Matt there, watching you. You were still unsure about him, it seemed like with Matt, you were entering into the unknown- you couldn't just sum him up in one word because he hid it so well. Then you realised you were reading into things too much again, and decided to reply.

"It's nothing, I was just messing around…" you said, but he seemed to ignore you. He sat down next to you on a different stool.

"Yeah, but at least you can play…" he said, looking at the keys. "Can you sightread?" He asked, out of the blue.

"Um, kind of… I can't really do bass clef that well but I'm alright with treble…" you replied, thinking it best just to stick to the truth.

"Sightreading's something I've never got the hang of. It annoys me." He replied, and looked around the room. "Where's Dom?" He asked, changing the subject again.

"Oh… gone to look for more drumsticks," you replied. He smiled.

"That'll take him a while… have you seen his room?"

"No…" you replied. He smiled even more, looking you in the eye.

"You don't want to. Or maybe you do…" he said, his eyes looking deep into yours. You felt really uncomfortable, and tried to keep with the first meaning of his words.

"Not if it's a mess, I can't stand messy rooms…" you replied, hesitantly. He smiled and looked away, and you realised he'd seen right through you- seen how you'd avoided the subject that made you uncomfortable. Which just made it worse.

"So, what can you play then? Anything I'd know?" He changed the subject again, quite abruptly. It was getting annoying.

"Um, well I'm not sure what kind of thing you'd know… erm… nothing classical or impressive, I just learn things I like by ear mostly." you replied, trying to relax into the subject you loved.

"Really? That's quite impressive…" he said. You got the feeling that even though he seemed to be impressed, nothing you played would ever match _his_ standards. That thought made you really not want to play.

"It's not… it's just… none of it's any good, I'd better go and look for Dom…" you said, trying to make a good excuse.

"Play something for me first." He said. It sounded like a command in the echoey room, and you found yourself leaning towards the possibility that maybe it would be ok just to play something… but then you hit another brick wall and there was no way he was going to make you do this.

"Everything I can play- it all includes singing." You said, and it didn't sound like an excuse, just a statement. He smiled.

"So? Go on…"

"Matt, I can't sing."

"Everyone can sing."

"I can't."

"You can't be as bad as Dom…"

"I am. I'm worse. I…"

"Stop being modest. Are you completely tone-deaf?"

"Yes."

"No you're not; you told me you played songs by ear, which must mean you're able to hold a note at the very least. And it also means there's no way you could be as bad as Dom." He said, with a triumphant smile. You scowled at him.

"Just one song…" He continued.

"You'd make a good prime minister." You said.

"…thankyou. Any particular reason why you just told me that?" He looked bemused.

"You're very persuasive." You said in a dead kind of voice. It was true- he'd left you with no loop-holes. He grinned as he understood.

"Well… thanks, but I'm happy with what I'm doing at the moment. And don't change the subject. What're you going to play for me?" The way he just assumed you were going to play something kind of made things final. In the end, after a _lot_ of consideration, you decided on the one you enjoyed the most. That way you'd be maybe a teeny bit less uncomfortable. But before you spoke, you gave a big sigh, just to remind him that you _really_ didn't want to do this in front of someone who was obviously so much better than you.

"Dustland fairytale… it's by the Killers." You said in resignation.

"Ah, I like the Killers. I saw them at one of the festivals we've done… sounds good!" He finished, and sat back as if expecting you to start. You were all of a sudden really nervous, and found it hard to start. Matt seemed to realise, and for the first time you saw some kind of compassionate emotion in him.

"Go on. Please? I promise I won't judge you, even if you're as bad as you think you are- which I'm sure you're not." He gave a slight pause, then repeated the word "Please?" again, and you decided just to go for it, as long as he kept his promise not to judge. You found the first chords and slowly pressed down, and as soon as the sound came out you had to keep the rhythm going, and one way or another, you managed to sing the whole song.

_(I love this song, and I can play it too :D)_

**A dustland fairytale beginning  
Or just another white trash county kiss  
In '61, long brown hair, and foolish eyes.  
**  
**He looked just like you'd want him to  
Some kind of slick chrome american prince  
A bluejean seranade  
**  
**And moon river, what you do to me  
And I don't beleive you...  
**  
**Saw cinderella in a party dress  
But she was looking for her nightgown  
I saw the devil wrapping up his hands  
He's getting readyfor the showdown  
I saw the minute that I turned away  
I got my money on a palm tonight.  
**  
**A change came in the sky  
Like revelations set his soul on fire  
She said she always knew he'd come around.  
**  
**And the decades disappear  
Like sinking ships but we persevere  
God gives us hope  
But we still fear what we don't know  
**  
**The mind is poisoned  
**  
**Castles in the sky sit stranded, vandalised  
The drawbridge is closing...  
Sawcinderella in a partydress  
But she was looking for her nightgown  
I saw the devil wrapping up his hands  
He's getting readyfor the showdown  
I saw the minute thatthey turned the page  
I took my money and I ran away  
Straight to the valley of the great divide...  
**

**Out where the dreams are high  
****Out where the wind don't blow  
****Out here the good girls die  
****And the sky won't snow**

**Out here the birds don't sing  
****Out here the fields don't grow  
****Out here the bell don't ring  
****Out here the bell don't ring**

**Out here the good girls die**

**Now cinderella don't you go to sleep  
****It's such a bitter form of refuge  
****Oh don't you know the kingdom's under siege  
****And everybody needs you**

**Is there still magic in the midnight sun  
****Or did you leave it back in '61?  
****In the cadence of a young man's eyes  
****I wouldn't dream so high...**

_Matt's P.O.V_

She could play piano.

She could sing.

She could do both at the same time and sound fucking amazing.

Bloody hell, I was falling fast for this girl. I know I laughed at Dom when he'd fallen for her so quickly, but she was seriously something special. She finished the song, but kept the keys of the final chord pressed down for a long time, as if she didn't want to make the ending final. I could tell she'd enjoyed it, but now she'd finished she seemed to get all nervous again like at the start. I don't know how she could have deluded herself into thinking she was crap!

She turned to look at me after a long while, kind of shying away and not sure whether to make eye contact. I must've been staring because she had to say my name to get my attention back to the present.

"Matt?" Once she saw I was focused, she asked the inevitable. "So… what'd you think?" I looked down at the piano, trying to find the right words.

"Bloody fantastic." I finally managed to say. She smiled, but kept on denying herself.

"Aw, it wasn't _that_ good…"

"No, I'm serious. You were- it seemed to come so naturally to you, so I don't know why you were saying what you were before… and…" I trailed off, trying to think of something else to say to sum it all up.

"Thanks Matt, but I…" she began, but I cut her off.

"Stop denying yourself, seriously! The piano was amazing. To have learnt that by ear…"

"Means it isn't perfect."

"Stop being modest- you _must _know how good you are… and the singing-"

"It was average… look Matt-"

"You're a better singer than me." I said finally, and the weird thing was, I actually meant it.

"Ok now you're just taking the piss." she said, after an incredulous pause.

"No, I mean it. You actually have something to your voice, you don't have to belt it out just to sound good. And I could understand every word of that, which is impossible when I sing. And…" Wow. This was weird. I'd never actually told anyone they were better than me- at _anything_. Ever. But it was all true. Well, I thought so at least.

"No, you're just doing that to make me feel better."

"Don't think that just because I'm in a famous band I'm the best singer there is, because I'm not. There's plenty out there better than me… you just happen to be one of them." I said.

"Shit, that was _you?_" Dom had appeared in the doorway. I felt a hint of jealousy that he'd found her first, I'm not ashamed to admit it. But I knew in the end she'd be mine, Dom never holds on to girls for long. But for now I just needed to convince her that I was a nice person, even if I'm not always good at showing it.

"See, two against one, you can't argue with that. I mean it, it was incredible." I said, before her or Dom could say anything more. Which was good, because it diverted her attention back to me.

"Well… thanks…" she said, clearly unable to think of any more reasons why Dom and I were wrong. I smiled at her, but Dom now held her gaze and I considered this one to be a losing battle.

"I'm gonna go and make some coffee… want some?" I said, trying to sound casual. They both put in their orders and I went out into the kitchen.

Well… if the worst comes to the worst, I can get her through the piano. At least that's something Dom _can't _relate to.


	6. Chapter VI

_Dom's P.O.V_

I was going to kill Matt.

"What the fuck were you doing?" I asked as soon as Lou had realised it was 6:30 and her house would now be unlocked.

"'What the fuck' do you mean?" He replied, even though he knew. And I knew he knew. And he knew I knew he knew.

"She's _my_ girlfriend." I said. It sounded a bit whiney.

"Not officially." He said, as if that made it ok. God I wanted to wring his scrawny little neck...

"But still, you have no right to go flirting with her as soon as I'm out the room!" I was having to try quite hard to hold myself back now.

"I would like to assert you that I was _not_ flirting. You're just over-reacting, Dom." He walked out, and just like that, I was dismissed.

I followed him out, muttering every curse under the sun in his direction as he got himself a beer.

"Excuse me, but I think _'overpowering sick bastard'_ is a bit harsh." he said as he joined me on the sofa.

"Well _excuse me,_ but I don't." I said, turning my back on him. I was being childish, I know, and I probably was over-reacting. But it was just because I _knew_ he had a good chance of winning her over, and I _had_ to keep her for myself.

"Dom, seriously. Yes, I admit I think she's... nice," he said. I snorted. I don't think 'nice' was his first choice of word. "But, you know... you got there before me. And besides, I'm giving her a fair choice between us." He said, still seeming not to care in the slightest.

"There's not meant to be a _choice!_ You said it yourself: _I got there before you._ End of story. She's mine. And she won't choose you over me." I noticed my voice faltered slightly on the last part. I knew that Matt could be _very_ seductive towards women if he wanted to be. But then again, would Lou fall for that?

"I wouldn't be so sure..." He said, abandoning his earlier disguise that he didn't want her to choose him.

"Well, um... that's the point! You're not going to try to _make_ her choose you, so there's no reason why she should." I said, satisfied with _that_ anatomy, at least. Matt didn't answer straight away, but huffed as he stood up, indicating his annoyance with me. Just as he'd gone through the door, to make sure _his_ was the last word, he called back to me.

"It's a free country, Dom."

I whacked my head against the wall in frustration. I shouldn't have- it hurt.

**_-Next weekend-_**

_Your P.O.V_

You and Dom went going out again that afternoon. Just for a walk around the village. But you were happy with that- as long as you got to talk to him and generally _be_ with him, you were fine. You'd just finished a loop when Dom changed the subject you were currently on.

"I just thought- do you want to come to the studio tonight? You know we're working on this new album, and Chris is back so we're gonna make a start..."

"Wow, yeah, I'd love to. As long as I don't get in the way..." you replied.

"No, you wouldn't. We're putting together this DVD, it's going to be 'making of...' of all the songs, so you could do all the videos!" He said. _(I'm a-thinking of 'The Resistance' here, folks ;D) _

"Yeah, that'd be great. I love messing around with cameras," you said, grinning. You were glad he'd given you an excuse to be there, becuase you thought you'd only feel awkward just sitting around doing nothing.

"Ok, cool, um... I already told everyone cos I figured you couldn't refuse," he said, smiling your favourite smile- the really cute one :) You smiled back, and it was sorted.

He said you might as well go straight there since it meant you could get started quickly. When you arrived, you were struck by how enclosed it all was. The recording booth was quite large, but the room behind with all the computers and keyboards was really quite cramped. The others were already there, and just looked up, greeting you with a smile before getting back to the computer screen.

"Oh, I must warn you- prepare to see a very different side of Matt." Dom whispered in your ear, a grin on his face. He handed you the camera, and you glanced at Matt. He seemed just as blasé and domineering as usual, and Dom was talking to you so you looked away again. "Just film anything remotely interesting- we'll edit it later." He said, and with a smile, joined Matt and Chris, the latter of which then came and introduced himself.

"Hi, sorry, Matt's very...precice at the moment. Everything _has_ to be right." He sighed. "I'm Chris... you're Lou- heard all about you and all that jazz." He smiled, and you decided you liked him. He was nice, and casual about it, too.

"Yeah... I've been put on camera duty..." you said, holding up the cam-corder.

"Film Dom when he's drumming. He makes the most _priceless _faces." He said with a grin. "Want to come and have a look?" He continued, indicating the computer screen. You nodded, and decided to film from then-onwards.

There was some kind of program on the screen, representing a garageband kind of format.

"I don't like that bit." Matt suddenly said, pointing to a certain point on the screen. You then noticed he was wearing headphones, and must have heard something he didn't approve of. "It's a bit.. flat, I reckon we should just try out all the different effects and see how it sounds, I mean it can't hurt to go through each one, the one we want might be at the very bottom..."

Suddenly you saw what Dom had meant about the different side of Matt. He spoke incredibly fast, so the words were almost unintelligable, and was extremely animated, using his face and hands a lot more. His voice was also higher pitched, marking either excitement or annoyance- it could've been either. You realised you'd raised your eyebrows at him as he turned away to fiddle with some controls across the room, and Dom was laughing at you. You arranged your features into a more normal expression and turned the camera on Dom, who backed off.

"You see what I mean, though? Calm and collected and _up himself_ as he seems, he's just a little ferret in human form," Dom said. He grinned, but his words were almost affectionate. You smiled back, and went over to where Matt was. He'd put the headphones up on his head, as he didn't need them to listen to any more, and it looked slightly ridiculous. You decided to voice your thoughts. It couldn't hurt, could it?

"You know Matt, you could pass for Mickey Mouse with those headphones like that." You said in a deadpan voice. He turned around, and after a few seconds, realised what you meant.

"It was intended." He said, halfway between trying to keep up his self-appointed 'cool' and joking around. The others seemed to catch on.

"Yeah, lets all do it, if Matt's doing it it _must_ be cool." Dom said, throwing you a pair, and placing them on his head like Matt's. Chris did the same, looking slightly incredolous but grinning all the same. Matt looked annoyed.

"Well all you've done there is suceeded in making yourselves look extremely _gay_." He said, and turned back around. But you noticed a smile slip on to his face as he did so.

"Oh, so it's ok for you to do it but as soon as _we _try..." Chris said, voicing yours and Doms thoughts.

"Yep." Matt replied, not turning around, concentrating on another screen infront of him.

"Fair do's" Dom said, rolling his eyes at Matt's back. "You work too hard, and I'm bored with this one. We've got _ages_ to finish this. Let's start something else" Dom complained.

You expected Matt to contradict him, but he agreed. "Yeah... let's go to the piano room, I'll think something up."

He pushed his swivel chair over to Dom, crashing into you in the process, and continued down the hallway, with a look that suggested he _might_ break out into a massive grin at any second. Dom shrugged at you all, and followed Matt, using the same mode of transport.

You made sure you had it all on film, and followed them with Chris, on foot. Chris didn't want to risk his bass getting hurt.


	7. Chapter VII

_Your P.O.V_

They were messing around like little kids, but it was absolutely hilarious. You tried to get as much as you could on camera, but when they started throwing stuff you thought it'd be best to put it away. You remembered what you'd thought the previous weekend, about not being sure about the band and bandmates in yours and Dom's relationship, or something like that. But you had to admit, you'd never had so much fun in your life! With two brothers and a sister, all over seven years older than you, you were used to having to entertain yourelf, but today you got on surprisingly well with Dom, Matt and Chris, and had the biggest laugh you'd had in years.

_Dom's P.O.V_

We were behaving as normal. Lou seemed a little surprised at first, but she soon joined in and seemed to be enjoying herself. I knew she had older brothers or something so she obviously didn't feel too dominated by us. But when her and Matt started getting a bit too cozy on the piano for my liking, I remembered something that'd been bothering me all week, something Matt'd said to me last weekend.

_"She's _my_ girlfriend."_

_"Not officially."_

I hadn't really seen her much in the week, because she'd had work, and when I _did_ see her Matt was always there. Damn rainy Teignmouth. Anyway, I realised I had to ask her now, before Matt made a move...

"Lou... can I talk to you for a second?" I said. Matt heard, he was sitting so close, and I could see he was already trying to fathom from my expression what I was going to say.

"Um... yeah, sure..." She got up and I led her back to the other room by the recording booth.

"It's nothing big... I just didn't want the others to hear, that's all," I said with a smile, so she wouldn't get the wrong idea. Once again it struck me how purely beautiful she was. I walked closer to her and put my hand on her face, stroking her cheek then back into her hair. She smiled, and I spoke.

"I know its a bit late to say this really, but I just wanted to make absolute sure..." God, I'd never done this before... "Um, do you want to be my girlfriend? Officially, you know..." God, that sounded so cheesy.

She paused for a second, smiling even more as she realised how embarrassed I was. "Yes Dom, I will." she finally said, and... well, I kissed her. We'd kissed before, in the week, but not alone like this, and never as... heated is the word, I suppose. Well, whatever the bloody word is, it was amazing. Definitely the best kiss I've ever had, which says a lot, really. I opened her mouth with my lips, and her sweet breath mingled with mine, and it was perfect.

Well, until Matthew Bellamy barged in and interrupted us, I suppose.

"Oh, sorry," he said, and sauntered back out again, smirking like hell. Cocky git. But the moment was ruined, and me and Lou kind of backed away from eachother and couldn't look inthe other person's eye.

Well, I was worried about Matt making moves on her- I didn't think about _sabotage._

_Your P.O.V__  
_  
It was obvious, though it kind of hurt to say it, that Matt had fully known what he was interrupting _before_ he did so. You could see it in the smirk. But afterwards, as the awkward silence grew longer between you and Dom, you knew you had to say something. He seemed so shy compared to the big kid you'd seen just five minutes ago, poking Matt up the arse with a drumstick.

"Dom..." you looked at him, and he glanced at you, but quickly looked away again. You sighed. "Come on," you said, taking his hand and pulling him back through to the piano room. "Let's go and kill him."

That brightened him up a little.

_**-One month later-**_

You were due to be at the studio in half an hour, and your car wouldn't start.

"Fuck's sake..." You said as you tried one last time, and the engine spluttered and died. All your other friends from work were off on holidays, it being the Easter break, so there was only one thing for it. You took out your mobile and dialled Dom's number.

"Hello?" A voice said, but it wasn't the one you expected.

"...Matt?"

"Yeah, Dom's setting up the kit, he told me to answer."

"Well, er... my car's died."

"Ah."

"So... would one of you mind picking me up?" You said, biting your lip. You didn't like to ask anything of them, but there wasn't any other way to get there.

"You play the role of 'damsel in distress' very well, I'll give you that."

"I'm not joking, Matt!"

"That's not what I was saying." You were confused, but then it dawned on you.

"I've only had to have been picked up by one of you lot _twice_ in the last month. I'd call that about average, myself." You said, in mock anger.

"Alright, alright... I'll be fifteen minutes." He said, and hung up. You locked up your garage and sat on the doorstep, waiting.

_Matt's P.O.V_

Three months since I met this girl. And what was it doing to me? I had fully admitted to myself that I was completely in love with her. But that'd just made it worse, I spose. She and Dom had become more serious, and it had come to the point where I was so jealous that I couldn't be in the same room as them when they were kissing, or being all lovey-dovey and all that. But I didn't want to see her unhappy so I just held my tongue. The others had noticed something was up, but I passed it off as stress from the album. But I knew I had to do something about this, soon. Which is how I came to the conclusion just to tell her how I felt. I wasn't doing it to get back at Dom, or to try and convince her to suddenly leave him and choose me- I just wanted her to know.

She got into the car, saying thanks and apologising and over-reacting like she does whenever she feels she's done someone the slightest bit of wrong. But she seemed to notice that I wasn't responding after a while and just fell silent. It's what everyone had grown used to doing- apparently I had _moods,_ and it was best to avoid me when I was in one of them. Funny, how these 'moods' always occured whenever Lou and Dom were getting a bit cozy in the same room as me. I was surprised no-one had noticed.

"Louisa." I said. She looked surprised.

"Matthew." She was responding to the fact I'd used her full name, but she was still serious. I took a deep breath.

"I need to tell you something. And I know it's gonna fuck everything up and you'll hate me, but I need someone to know. And I think it's best if _you_ do."

"What is it?" She sounded really worried, like I was going to admit that I'd attempted suicide or something.

"I- I- I think I've fallen in love... with you." I was concentrating _really_ hard on the road now. My knuckles were white on the steering wheel. She didn't answer for a while, and I didn't mind. At least I'd said it- I could take everything that followed.

"Well that makes sense." She finally said. Bloody hell, had I been _that_ obvious? "You're right. That does fuck everything up." She added, and a wave of guilt crashed over my head.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said..."

"Don't be ridiculous, you can't help how you feel, and if _this_ is what you've been so depressed about it would've been worse to keep it to yourself. But..."

I pulled over outside the studio, but neither of us got out.

"Well..." she said, after snother long pause. "I guess this means that I... that me and Dom can't-"

"No! I don't want to break you and Dom up, that's not what I was trying to do!" God, if they broke up because of me, Dom would _never_ speak to me again. And that'd mean the end of Muse...

"I know! But it's got to happen! I- I understand you didn't do this just to break us up, but that's the only thing we can do!" she seemed not to understand my dilemma.

"But I did this just so someone _knew-_ just so I could tell someone! I'll just- things'll just carry on the way they always have... the way they _should..._ I'll be fine."

"No you won't." she said, and there was a certainty in her voice that told me for definite that I would _not_ be fine. But I didn't want to seem so selfish...

She opened the car door, but stopped, as if another thought had struck her.

"Do not tell Dom this. That's my job. You'll fuck it up if _you_ try..." she smiled at me, she was only teasing, but I knew it was probably the truth. Then she got out, with a final pained smile in my direction, and slammed the car door shut.

_Shit..._


	8. Chapter VIII

_Your P.O.V_

As soon as Dom saw you he knew something was up.

"Lou...?" he'd finished setting up the kit and came over to you. Without saying a word as you needed to get your thoughts in order, you led him through to the piano room, so you were both alone. You shut the door.

"Lou, what happened?" He said, walking over to you and taking you in his arms. "Tell me..."

You had to work hard to get the words out. "Matt... Matt told me something. And I don't think we can... be together any more." you sat down on the piano stool and he just stood there, at a loss. But you could see the anger rising in him.

"Dom. Matt didn't say this just to-" You tried to console him, but he interrupted.

"What did he say?" He spoke in a low, quiet voice. It was quite scary.

"Listen to me, and I'll tell you. He didn't say this with the sole purpose of-"

"What did he say?" Dom repeated. His voice was slightly louder, but the pitch was the same.

"Dom, please listen. This isn't Matt's fault, he can't help it-"

"What. Did. He. Say?" This time he looked you in the eye as he spoke, his face level to yours, and all you could do was repeat Matt's words.

"He... told me he'd... fallen in love... with me." You said, unable to return Dom's stare. Once you'd said the words he stood up straight and smiled, a horrible, sarcastic smile.

"Dom." You knew he wouldn't listen, but you had to try. He didn't answer.

"Dom, come here." He didn't move. You got up and walked over to him, but he was looking past you, staring at the wall.

"And how does that make _any_ difference to whether we should be a couple or not?" He still didn't look at you, but the horrible smile was gone.

You sighed. In the past month Dom and Matt had forgotten all about their conflict over you; you'd managed to convince them both it wasn't worth it. Matt had agreed, saying he'd only wanted to see if he could get you, but it wasn't worth it any more if you and Dom were going to get more serious. That had made Dom a bit happier, and ithad all been going fine. You'd never expected Matt to genuinely fall in love with you, but you knew now that whatever you did, the friendship between the two men would never quite be the same. You thought it over in a methodic way, scratching out all feelings, and eventually came to the conclusion that one option was _fairer_ than all the others, at least.

"Dom, Matt is your best friend."

"You haven't answered my question." He said, still refusing to look you in the eye, and looking more and more at a loss as you went on.

"I am in the process of doing so, if you'd listen. Matt is your best friend, correct?"

A long pause.

"Not any more."

"Don't be stupid. Ok. Matt is your best friend. ...and you were really annoyed at him when he started to get all moody last week, weren't you? But you were worried about him, as well. We all were. Correct?"

Another pause.

"No. I never noticed it."

"Dom, I am not able to explain unless you tell me the truth."

"Fine. I was annoyed."

"And worried."

"...and worried..." this time he looked you in the eye, and you sensed that he was beginning to work out your explanation. But you wanted him to hear it the right way, so you cut his growing suspicions short.

"Dom, don't get ahead of me here, assume nothing. Okay?"

Pause.

"Fine."

"I mean it..." he didn't reply, but you could see he'd obliged.

"So, we have established that Matt is your best friend, and you hated it when he was all moody last week, in... different ways. Ok..." you almost let the emotions through at that point, but stopped yourself. Doing it methodically would make it easier.

"And you know that I love you. Correct?"

"...Yes." he was still looking you in the eye, and you could see the pain and love and confusion and hatred and all sorts of emotions. It made it hard for you to continue, so you were the one to look away this time.

"And... you know that I l-love Matt, in the same way that you do. As a best friend." You rushed the last explanations, and made the word 'love' as quiet as possible, but it seemed like you'd shouted it in the quiet room.

"...yes-" you could tell he wanted to say more, but was choosing his words. So you stayed silent. "I- I know you love us both, I'm not that stupid... I just..." he sighed. "Well. I can see what you're trying to say now. You don't want to hurt either of us, so you're choosing the fairest option. And there's no need to look so surprised..." he smiled at your widened eyes. "I... I suppose it's the only way forward. For the band, for me and Matt... but what do you get out of this? I get the satisfaction that Matt won't have you, and Matt doesn't get hurt because I don't have you either. But you don't get anything..." as you realised the compassion of his words, that he was willing to do this as long as he knew what was in it for _you..._ that was too much. The emotions took over, and you broke down in his arms.

_Dom's P.O.V_

As I held her, I thought about the _absurdity_ of this thing. It would work... but none of us would ever be completely happy. Like a deep cut... it would heal after time, but the scar would always be there: it would never be perfect. And how long would we be able to hold on in such a frustrating limbo, before it became too much for one of us? But Lou was right, and I couldn't think of anything else, and it would work... for now.

"Lou, it's ok, I just wanted to make sure _you_ were happy with this, and not just thinking of everyone and every_thing_ else..." I said, pressing her into me, like this would be the last time I'd get to hug her. Well... it might be.

"I know, I'm sorry." she said, calming down a little. I stroked her face and tried to smile at her. How could I give _this_ up? But I knew I had to... for Muse, for Matt, and for Lou. I _had _to... "It's all I can think of... oh Dom, are you sure?" she said after wiping her eyes, which I helped with.

"...Yes, I'm sure. There's no other way..." And I was sure. She looked up at me, and the tiniest smile edged on to her face, which I couldn't help but kiss. But then I realised what I'd done and held back, but I couldn't move my face away from hers. It looked like she was trying just as hard.

"Once more c-couldn't hurt..." she said, unsure of herself. But I was certain. If there was going to be a 'last kiss', it would be more than just a peck on the lips. And, bitter as it was knowing this was the last time, I leaned in and claimed her lips as my own, which she readily responded to.

_Your P.O.V_

Breaking off the kiss was the hardest part, but you both knew you had to. You could see the remorse in his eyes, could tell he was thinking just how unfair this was, exactly like you were. But you had to talk to Matt. You had to leave Dom, knowing the next time you saw him you'd 'just be friends'. How you hated that saying.

"Dom, I need to see Matt, before he goes and drowns himself or something..." you murmured as he tried to pull his head away from yours.

"Yeah. I-I know." he said, suceeding, and detaching your arms from around his neck as he smiled.

"I- I lo-" you knew what you wanted to say, but you had to hold back, in case it made things worse. You were close to tears again. He smiled even more, but the pain in his eyes increased.

"I know. So do I. Go and see Matt, he needs you."He said. And with that, you slowly, wistfully walked away from love, from security, from _Dom.__  
_

"Matt?" You tried every door in the studio, but he wasn't there. Getting slightly worried, you ventured outside, to see if his car had gone. But it was still there, and he was still in it, his head back against the seat, staring at the roof. You went round and opened the passenger door, which got his attention. But you couldn't say anything yet, and just threw your arms round him. He pulled you in close, and rested his head on yours. You couldn't remember how long you stayed like that, both knowing what you were there for but unsure why. Why couldn't there be an easier way out?

Eventually you spoke, but you didn't move back. You couldn't look at Matt yet, wih the memory of Dom's tortured eyes still in your mind. "Dom's ok with this. We have to just be..." the word 'friends' didn't fit. It wasn't right for how you felt about these two men.

"Dom's ok with it?" Matt seemed to understand your unfinished sentance, but was incredulous at the first part. He pulled back to look at your face, to check you weren't lying just to make him feel better.

"...Yeah. He... he needs you, and you need him, and so do I for both of you. And he understands that we can't carry on like this without someone getting hurt, so he's ok. I was worried about you..." you said, and it was true. You knew he'd be feeling awful at the thought that he'd caused all of this to happen. In one breath he confirmed your fears.

"I don't believe that I've done all this. _How _I could've done this to you and Dom..." He said bluntly, and the pain started to creep into his eyes.

"I don't believe you think this is _your_ fault. This is nobody's fault! You can't help the way you feel, Matt, and you know that if you hadn't told me it would've got worse, and everything would've gone wrong!" You were getting a little hysteric at this point.

"Lou, calm down. I expect that once I've seen proof that Dom has actually agreed to this, I'll be ok. Don't worry about me." he said, and tried to smile. He looked so pitiful and lost, and _guilty _even though he had no reason to be.

"I do worry about you. I... I guess I love you, too. It's weird... it's like you and Dom are my long-lost brothers or something... that's how I feel. And I couldn't bear for one of you to be hurt when there's a way of stopping it, so that's what I'm doing..." you said, trying to make him understand.

"Ah... I suppose that makes things a lot clearer... that's kind of how I feel about you two, as well. I can see why you didn't use the word 'friends' earlier. It isn't enough..." he said, as much to himself as to you.

You smiled as you realised you both understood.

Maybe this was going to work out. Either way, no-one would get hurt. And _that_ was top priority.


	9. Chapter IX

_Your P.O.V_

It started off badly. Matt and Dom were too formal to eachother, and too careful around you. You considered talking to them about it, but you decided you didn't waant to appear like the 'social worker' of this whole idea. They'd sort it out... eventually...

And they did. You supposed it was all the time cooped up making the album in the tiny studio, and having to work together. One day they came in and it was completely different- they must've talked the night before. And you had a suspicion that Chris- and alcohol- might've played a part in it. All you knew for certain was that before that day, they were _trying_ too hard, and it wasn't natural. Afterwards, they just seemed to get on with eachother like before, and included you in it all.

Six months after the change, everything was working really well- the album was coming along nicely, and you were all really pleased with it- apart from Matt, who was a dedicated perfectionist.

"Lou, could you do the keyboardy bit for that part, while Matt does the guitar, just to see how it sounds?" Chris said, fiddling around with the computer. You knew how to play almost every one of their songs on piano, so you were about to agree when Matt butted in.

"Can't you record me doing one, then I'll do the other over the top? Because in the real thing it has to be me, and she might not do it right."

"Oh... thanks." You said, but let him do it anyway. You were used to his painstaking and ruthless attention to detail. The others gave you a 'sure that's ok?' look, but you dismissed it.

"Guess I'm back to lunch duty..." you mumbled as you went out into the ridiculously tiny kitchen area.

Another time, you were back at their house, and had set yourself the almighty challenge of cleaning Dom's room. You were halfway through chucking out some of the rubbish when Matt burst in, a grin on his face, and shouted "GUESS WHAT?"

You didn't look up. You were used to his bursts of randomness. "Have you bought a new kettle or something?"

"No!" He said, running over the rubbish bag and spilling everything out of it.

"Matt!" You began, but he was so intent on telling you his news that he didn't notice.

"_I_ have discovered a new type of _MARMITE!"_ He said, grinning right in your face.

"Um... that's lovely Matt, but Marmite is a _brand_... you can't exactly discover a new type of it." you said, desperate to get all the rubbish back in the bag before Dom decided to go to bed. His 'bed-times' could vary from 4pm to 7am the next day.

"Well _I _have..." he frowned. "It's called 'loumite.' It's like marmite, only for-"

"Lou's?" you finished his sentance for him, smiling a little."Look Matt, that's lovely, but I really need to get Dom's room finished..." you tried to get past him but he stopped you.

"Don't you want to try some?" He pouted, looking utterly pathetic.

"Matt, I don't really feel like eating hypothetical 'loumite' at the moment." you said, grabbing his shoulders and steering him out of the room. "It has chocolate in it! And icecream! And normal marmite but only a little bit... And CARROTS!" He shouted as you shut the door on him. As you turned back to the rubbish bag you heard footsteps, and from downstairs someone, maybe Chris, shouted "What the _fuck_ have you done to the marmite, Matt?"

The next two years went basically along those lines. Nothing really happened after the album was released; you went on tour with the boys and became the person who set up Matt's keyboard or piano and all that on stage, after he'd made _absolute_ sure you knew what you were you were doing. You were just going along the same old routine, but it didn't matter to you, you were happy, in a restricted sort of way.

There weren't many slip-ups in your 'plan', but it was a long time before anything about it could be mentioned without a pained silence. Eventually, in being so close to each other on tour, you _had_ to talk about it at some point, but the first time one of you did so was very awkward.

At the time, it was about a year and a half after the change, and you and Dom were sat on the bed in the tourbus, reading some pretty random fan-mail.

"Ok, someone has put my face... on a loaf of bread." Dom said, and showed you the picture. _(That's actually true :P)_

"Wow." You laughed. "So what does that say about you then, breadhead?"He smiled, but seemed pre-occupied. He put the sheet of paper down and turned to you.

"Are you happy with all this? I just wanted to know..." You knew immediately what he was talking about and your breathing sped up. You weren't sure how to reply.

"Um..."

"Look, I just want to make sure. I mean, me and Matt and you- we're fine about it now, it's better this way. But I think it'd be _even_ better if we could talk about it. Cos at the moment we all just avoid it and it all gets really awkward..." he replied, and you could see what he was getting at.

"...yeah. Well, I'm fine with it as well, I mean, you two seem happy enough now-" as if to illustrate your point, Matt suddenly chose to laugh evilly for no reason. He then apologized and carried on whatever he was doing. You smiled in his direction, adn continued. "-and _I'm_ fine. Seriously... I wouldn't change it, now we're all happy."

"Yeah..." Dom said, and the conversation melted back into the subject of fanmail.

And you were happy with it. You missed Dom, but you didn't think about that too often- it was a different part of your life. And Dom seemed fine about it, and Matt was his lively self once more, and Chris- well, Chris was just Chris.

But then, two years later, things started to deteriorate.

"Matt, where on earth did Dom _go_ last night?" You asked. Muse had finished touring and were on a bit of a break, so you were at Matt's house in Italy, and Chris was back in England with his family. It was 2pm, and Dom hadn't come home from wherever he'd been the night before.

"I dunno, but I doubt he'll turn up for another hour if he got pissed. Don't worry, he can look after himself." He said from over on the laptop.

"mmm... okay then. Seriously, what do you _do_ on that laptop? I swear you spend 60% of your time on it every day."

"Ah, I wouldn't say it was that much. And it's none of your business what I do." he replied, sub-conciously tilting the screen out of your eye-line.

"Fine... fine... I'll just look on the internet history when you're out" you said mischeiviously.

"I'll delete it..." he replied, but sounded a bit worried.

"Seriously Matt..." you said, walking surreptitiously around to the back of his chair. "What's so bad about... _looking yourself up on wikipedia? _You sad little man." you snorted as he hurredly closed the window down, but not before you'd seen.

"It's not sad... I just want to see what people put about me, that's all..." his voice was getting a bit whiney like it did when he knew he was fighting a losing battle.

"Yeah, sure." you replied, smirking, and went off to ring Dom... again.

"...Dom?"

"_Welcome to orange answerphone..."_


	10. Chapter X

When it got to three days with no sign of Dom, you were going to put in an official missing report to the police, or something. You and Matt had walked round the area countless times looking for him, with no avail. But Matt didn't let you put in a missing report.

"Lou, think about it. He's famous... the news'll go crazy, even if we _are_ in Italy at the moment. Everyone'll panic and Dom'll be really pissed off at you when he comes back." Matt had taken to talking like Dom would be back in a couple of days, as if he'd been on holiday.

"Fine..." you saw his point, but you hated to think that the one thing you _could_ do could possibly make things worse.

After a month went by, you had to physically _try_ to keep Dom off your mind. The thought that something had happened to him was just getting worse and worse, and it was affecting your everyday life. Matt tried to cheer you up, but you could see it was getting to him as well, and every time you recognised it in his eyes it just made you feel worse. 60 days after his disappearence, in the middle of the day, as you were messing around on the piano, it suddenly hit you that today was two months since you'd last seen Dom. Just as the thought hit you Matt walked in, and you tried not to look too depressed; for some reason Matt felt it was his fault whenever you got upset about Dom. You turned round and tried to smile.

_Matt's P.O.V_

"Um... Lou, I'm gonna go out tonight, if that's okay. You know Chris and Tom are coming over from England in about an hour... he asked me to meet him at this pub somewhere..." I trailed off as I saw the smile on her face fade away.

"Don't... please..." it was almost a whisper, but she said it clearly enough. I realised this was the first time since Dom's disappearence that one of us was planning to go somewhere without the other. And it wasn't fair on her- she needed me. I could tell at that moment that Dom was on her mind. I knew it was the two month mark today, but I hadn't said anything, hoping she wouldn't realise... looks like she had. I considered asking her to come with me, but to be honest she didn't look up for it.

"...I won't. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have thought about going..." I said, sitting down next to her. I had wanted to see Chris, to go out and get away from the misery this house was drowning in, but I had to stay... for her.

"Thanks, Matt. I'm really sorry, I- I can't be on my own, I miss- never mind. Just... thanks." she seemed to understand that I _really _didn't want to hear about Dom then. I just had to make sure she was ok, maybe have a couple of beers with Chris later, get back into the normal, miserable routine we'd been stuck in for the past two months.

"S'okay. Cup of tea?" I asked, trying to get her mind off things.

"Yeah, thanks." She followed me out into the kitchen and curled up on the sofa, and I texted Chris that I wasn't coming, after all. I tried not to make the text sound _too_ annoyed. Once I'd made the tea I joined her on the sofa, and we sat in silence. After a while, I realised she was crying. She hadn't cried over the whole last two months, but she was looking the other way and I realised she didn't want me to see, so I didn't say anything. I watched her though, to make sure she was ok, and after a bit she turned round, and saw me looking at her.

"Matt, I'm sorry. Go. I'll be fine here." she said, trying to smile through her tears. It was quite a pitiful sight. But I was torn: I really wanted to stay and make sure she was alright, which is all she's ever done for me. But I really didn't want to start talking about Dom, _again_. I wanted to be normal, and go down the pub, and get away from it all...

"I'm not going." I smiled at her, but it was fake. I wasn't feeling happy. And I _really_ didn't want her to mention...

"It's just... I'm so worried about him..." she said, staring into her empty mug. I lost it.

"You know what, I might just go if all you're going to talk about is _Dominic._" I snapped. It was a spiteful, selfish thing to say, but it was done. And it was more than just that... I realised I was once again _jealous_ of Dom. I hadn't felt like that for two years. And now... I'd blown it all, everything we'd worked so hard to keep up, in one sentance- I'd let that little locked case of my lust for the girl infront of me and my jealousy for the man she used to love open, wide. _Well Matt, I suppose you've got nothing to lose now..._

_Your P.O.V_

"W-what?" you couldn't believe he'd just said that. You were absolutely incredulous.

"Oh come on, you know he's probably dead and not gonna come back, and I'm sick of you saying you _miss him_ all the time! Just accept it: he's not coming back." Matt said, almost shouting at you by now. The feelings washed over you, and you felt almost faint.

"D-dead? Matt, what the hell-?" He didn't let you finish.

"And you know what that means. Come on Lou, you always had the choice, for _two years_ you knew you could stop this madness we were all in if you just chose _one_ of us. And now... well, there's only one choice left. I've always been here for you. Even when your beloved _Dom_ decided to go and get pissed and kill himself, I was there. And I still am. I love you. Please, _please_ say you love me too..." he was leaning over you by now, his hand behind your head, holding on to your hair, pulling it. His face scared you. You'd never seen him like this before.

"Matt... you're hurting me..." you couldn't get your emotional pains in order so you just concentrated on the physical one of him pulling your hair. He didn't loosen his grip, just looked even more desperate, and leaned further over you. You couldn't back away because his hand forced you to stay where you were. "Matt..."

His face was above yours now. "Say you love me. Say it!" He seemed hysterical now, still with the desperate look in his eyes.

"Matt. Get off me. Leave me alone." you tried to sound angry but you were too scared; your voice came out as a whimper. His grip on your hair loosened a little at your words, but it was still tight enough to hurt when you tried to look away. He didn't move his body off you, but his face grew angry.

"So that's how it is, huh?" He said through gritted teeth. He looked like he was about to hit you, and you were terrified. You couldn't speak as he leaned in to kiss you, once again tightening his grip so you couldn't pull away. You didn't kiss him back, and the tears rolled down your face as you tried and failed to push him off. Faintly you heard the front door unlocking, and footsteps, and realised it must be Chris and Tom, in from the airport.

_Chris' P.O.V_

I was a bit annoyed that Matt hadn't come out to meet us. Tom had gone to the pub anyway, but I wanted to go to Matt'sand check they were ok about the whole Dom thing. I opened the living room door and- _shit_. Matt hadn't hung about in Dom's absence! But I'm not one to interrupt stuff like that so I just said "Oh... whoops, sorry guys..." and turned around to get out of there. God, this was going to be _awkward_. But then something caught my eye- was Lou trying to push him off?It looked like he was holding on to her pretty tight. But then I saw she was crying, and I ran over straight away and pulled the bastard off.

_Lou's P.O.V_

"Fucking hell, Matt! What the _fuck_ were you thinking?" Chris shouted at him as he saw how upset you were. You didn't care- as soon as Matt was off you you curled into a ball and buried your face- and sobbed your heart out. _Everything_ was fucked up now- how could you live like this? It was absurd that one sentance could change what had been routine for two years, but Matt had done it. _Give the man a medal..._ you thought bitterly as everything cascaded down on you. It felt like the world was upside-down, and the guilt and horror pushing down on you weighed a ton. You didn't move or speak, even when Chris came back in to console you. But he realised, and soon left. _Good old Chris- he knows when you need to be left alone. _you thought. But then the guilt got worse as you realised the whole reason Matt had stayed and done this to you was because you didn't want to be alone... it was too much, and you soon cried yourself into a bitter sleep.

_Matt's P.O.V_

I shook Chris off and stalked outside. I _was_ a fucking bastard. I _was_ a good-for-nothing user. I _didn't_ deserve to have friends like Lou.

"_Fuck._" I said out loud as I collapsed on to a bench outside a deserted pub.

"S'what I was thinking." A voice came from underneath the bench. It sounded in pain, and I imagined it to just be a drunk, who'd got beaten up a bit or something. I didn't bother looking, or replying.

"Hey... you don't think you could help me, could you? I think my leg's broken..." the voice said. Ok, maybe worse than _beaten up._ But I wasn't in the mood.

"Piss off. I'm seriously considering ending my life here, and I don't want to do anything good. It might change my mind." I was being harsh, but my mind was so fucked up that I couldn't concentrate about anything other than what I'd just done to the girl I loved. The voice didn't seem phased.

"That's a shame. Is there anyone you could ring that might feel a bit more compassionate? Cos I'm in a lot of pain at the moment."

"No, and good. Now shut up unless you can tell me a slow, painful way to commit suicide. They all seem to be so quick."

"Well, you could break your leg. That's pretty painful, I'll tell you." the voice said, sarcastically. All I could think of is how selfish it was, them just thinking about themselves and their poor broken leg while I'd commited such a terrible crime. Absurd thing to think, I know. But I was _really_ pissed off.

"Listen, could you stop being so selfish? I'm trying to think." I said, past annoyed.

"Excuse me? _Selfish?_ Take a look at me, look at my leg, and tell me I'm being selfish..." The voice said, and I got off the bench and knelt down, my intention being to punch him in the face. He stopped me though. Just with one word, I was frozen.

"...Matt?" He knew my name. That was unusual. No-one around my Italy home knew my name. The instant after this thought crossed my mind, I managed to recognise his face, underneath the appalling cuts and bruises covering it.

_"...Dom?"_


	11. Chapter XI

_Matt's P.O.V_

I couldn't move him very far- his leg _was_ broken. I tried to ring an ambulance but he wouldn't let me.

"Why, you have a broken leg, you retard!" I almost shouted, but he insisted, and I didn't force it upon him because- well, because I didn't think to, basically. My mind was too full of shit to think logically. But I couldn't take him home, either. I asked him what'd happened, but he wouldn't tell me.

"Funny, isn't it Dom, that now you know who I am, you're much less chatty than you were before..." I said, and he just mumbled in response. I put it down to sheer relief though, and sat with him until he spoke again. I was freezing and my bum was wet and I felt like shit about Lou and Dom was annoying me by not telling me anything, but I felt kind of calm. _Fucking fucked-up feelings. Fuck 'em._

_Chris' P.O.V_

Lou had told me everything that'd happened last night, everything Matt had said to her, but now she wasn't talking any more. And Matt himself still hadn't come home the next morning. I hoped he hadn't done anything stupid. I was making Lou her fourth cup of tea when she finally spoke.

"Do you know where Matt's gone? Is he okay?

I just stared at her. I desperately wanted to say _"Why the fuck do you care?"_, but I thought it'd be a bit heartless. So I just told her the truth.

"I don't know, Lou." My god, she looked genuinely worried. After what he did to her?

"This is my fault." She said, looking utterly defeated. Poor girl.

"No, it's not." I told her firmly.

"It _is_, though. I forced them to keep it all locked up inside them, and now they've both left me." She looked at me in utter despair, and I truly didn't know what to do. In the end I just pulled her into a hug.

"Lou, Dom didn't leave because of that. I don't know what happened to him, but... And Matt... well what he did wasn't _your _fault. It was his. Yours was the best idea girl, you all agreed on that." She didn't answer. _God Matt... what've you done?_

The next day was awkward. I didn't know what to do about Lou.

_Matt's P.O.V_

The next day was boring. Dom just sat there.

_Your P.O.V_

The next day was dead. You couldn't focus your mind on anything.

_Dom's P.O.V_

The next day was awful. My leg _fucking_ hurt.

Matt told me that night that if I wasn't going to go to hospital, I'd better go back to his house. He seemed reluctant about it though, as if he didn't want to return to his own home. He helped me up, and we began to make a start at getting me to walk. It took bloody forever. In the end I gave up and resorted to hopping, obviously giving it a break if anyone walked by or a car drove past, and pretending just to be standing randomly on the street. Cool, huh? Once when this happened (it happened a lot), quite close to the house, Matt said something in a strange, hollow voice, that reminded me of everything he'd said the other night, about comitting suicide and all that shit.

"Dom, I've done something awful. I don't think I can go back in there."

"Is this something to do with the comitting suicide thing?" I asked, voicing my thoughts.

"..yeah." He sounded pretty sincere.

"Um... what did you do?"

"I... I kissed Lou." he said, not looking me in the eye. My eyes widened, and my first reaction was to kill him, literally, but I realised if I kept the unwritten 'rules' of Lou's idea in mind, kissing her wasn't actually _that_ bad. I, apparently, had no reason to be jealous (even though I was), so I acted as if it was nothing.

"I don't think that's worth you comitting suicide." That would work both ways. It would make him feel better, but it still meant _I _could kill him.

"...yeah. Well, it wouldn't be, if she'd actually wanted to do it..." he said, sounding _really _guilty.

"YOU _FORCED_ HER TO KISS YOU?" I shouted at the top of my voice, and he took his hand off my shoulder in his surprise, causing me to lose balance and topple over.

"Um... yeah." He said, hesitantly holding out a hand to help me up. I took it, even though I didn't want to. I expect I looked a bit of a prat on the floor.

"Well, Matthew, I think you're perfectly justified in wanting to kill yourself, and I think it's a good idea for you never, and I mean _never_, to step inside... erm... _your_ house... ever again..." _Well done Dom, you've fucked up the whole 'sounding angry' thing there..._

_Matt's P.O.V_

Good old Dom. Making me laugh in the middle of all this. I immediately slipped back into the Matt from before, when we used to joke around all the time and make complete arses of ourselves arguing over nothing. Except this time we were arguing over something pretty big. But I put that out of my mind.

"Ah, but you see _I_ have the key." I smirked at him.

"Yeah, but I'll... fight you." Dom said, smiling a little as he saw what mood I was in.

"Yeah, sure. You're not stopping me from entering my own house, which happens to be just round the corner so I shall race you there!" I announced, and set off running, trying to lose myself in the character I used to have, before... well, before Dom went missing. He hopped along behind me, shouting obscene abuse, as usual. Thank _god_ there was no-one around. I got to the door way before him, and as I opened it and stepped inside he hobbled up the driveway, saying "Ah, Matt. You always fall for reverse psycology." in a _really_ irritating know-all voice. I shut the door on him, just to be annoying.

"Oy! You can't shut me out here, it's 11pm and I have a broken leg!" He shouted from outside, and I opened the door, makinga big show of huffing and sighing, and he came in and collapsed on to the chair inside the front door. Still grinning, I turned round to go further in, but I came face to face with Chris.

"Decided to come back then?" He said. God, he was tall. My grin faded.

"Hi Chris! I'm okay! Well, not okay exactly, my leg's broken, but I'm back! And I-" the looks on our faces shut Dom up.

"What? What did I do?" He looked confused.

_Nothing Dom, you did nothing. It was me..._


	12. Chapter XII

_Your P.O.V_

You'd fallen asleep again. When you opened your eyes you couldn't see anything. You must've shoved your face in the side of the sofa... but you were more comfortable than that. Maybe Chris'd moved you up to the spare bed? You moved back a little from whatever was obstructing your view, still a little bleary. You saw it was a person. That was strange, Chris wouldn't really get into bed with you... so maybe it was Matt? But no, Matt was far skinnier than this. You slowly looked up, and as you registered who it was, they spoke.

"Morning, sleepy-head. You've been dozing for two days straight, apparently." Dom said.

"...Dom?" You whispered, not quite believing your ears and eyes.

"It's me Lou. I'm home." He said more gently, stroking your cheek. Without another word you threw your arms around him, but pulled back sharply when he groaned in pain.

"Dom, what's wrong?" You said, and then looked at his face properly, not sleepy any more. He was covered in cuts and bruises, all over his face, down his neck...

"My leg's broken." He replied, adding to your list of his injuries.

"Bloody hell... you look like you've been dragged backwards through a hedge..." you said, and gently brushed all the injuries on his face. He laughed at your remark.

"Why thankyou. I'm sure I looked much worse than this when Matt found me..."

"Matt? Is he okay?" You perked up at the words, hoping Matt hadn't done anything stupid. You'd forgiven him for what he'd done to you when he didn't come home that night, as worry took over.

"He's fine. I managed to get him back to normal but then Chris had another go at him and he's kind of gone back into his shell... you need to talk to him. When he found me he was considering suicide."

"Seriously?" You must have jumped a little, because he winced. "Oh sorry, your leg..." you said, then realised what an idiot you were being. "Dom, why the _fuck_ aren't you in hospital?" He smiled and looked away, as if he'd been expecting you to say that.

"I... um... well, I didn't want a fuss, and, um... I wanted to see you..." he looked into your eyes and put on a shy little smile, and you couldn't help but let everything go. You let yourself love him again. After all, it was Matt's fault, and everything was wrong now, so couldn't you do at least _something_ to make your life better? You leaned in and tentatively kissed him on the cheek.

"That's sweet of you, but Dom, you've broken your leg. You need to go to hospital at some point... how long's it been broken?"

"Um... I'm not sure. A week, maybe?"

"How can you not be sure? Seriously, you have to tell me what happened to you." He didn't answer. "Please don't tell me you were drunk the _whole _two months..." He smiled at that, and seemed to give in a little, so you persisted. You took his face in your hands so that he was looking at you. "Dom. _Please_ tell me what happened to you. It's only me- it's not like you're telling the world. And I won't think anything bad of you, regardless of what you've done, I promise. ...please?" He finally seemed to give in. You faintly remembered Matt saying pretty much the same thing to you ages and ages ago, but you couldn't remember why. And you pushed Matt out of your mind. You had Dom to worry about at the moment.

"I can't remember all of it... it's pretty bad, Lou, you sure you want to hear this?" You nodded, and he began.

"Basically, I went and got pissed out of my head, the first night. I won't deny that. But the day after, when I woke up, I was in this random bloke's house. He came up and said he was a friend of my brother's, or something. I would've wondered what the fuck he was doing in Italy, but I had a... bit of a hangover, so I just kind of accepted it. I hoped he'd go away, actually. But he said my brother was coming up to see me, so I should go and wait in the garage. Well... you know what I'm like when I have a hangover..."

"What, you turn into an absolute retard?" You smiled, but were worried about his story.

"Pretty much." He smiled back. "Anyway, basically, they... locked me in the garage, and were apparently sending out things to my brother, and to Matt and Chris, to send them money to let me go."

"They held you hostage? Shit, Dom!" You said, wanting so much to hug him, but afraid to hurt him. You just kept your hands on his face, hoping that'd be enough.

"Yeah... well, they knew where my brother lived, they actually _did_ know him somehow... but he's on holiday so he won't get it for ages, and I'll tell him that it doesn't matter any more. And then they got Matt and Chris' address off the internet, which thankfully hadn't been updated so they thought we were all back in Australia. Of course," he said, smiling more, "it didn't cross their minds that we _couldn't _be on tour in Australia, because I was in Italy. Stupid bastards. But anyway, three nights ago they all got stoned, and brought a load of friends round to come and beat me up. ...Yeah, _that_ was when they broke my leg- chucked a table at me, for god's sake! But then they started to pass out from all the shit they were taking, and eventually, once they were all out, I grabbed the keys and got out of there, as much as it killed my leg. Got as far as the pub..." He shuddered sub-conciously, but smiled up at you, and you couldn't help it. You wrapped your arms round him, pulling him in close to you as much as you could without touching his leg. He responded, and wrapped his arms tightly around you.

"My god, Dom..." you whispered into his ear. "Seriously. You do get yourself into some shit."

He laughed gently, and turned his face to kiss your cheek. "But at least I'm home now..." he murmured, sighing as he pulled you closer.

"Yeah..." you sighed in return, and hugged him tighter.

"Lou, I know what Matt did to you. I was just wondering, does that mean I'm allowed to do... this?" He pulled back, but his arms were still around you, and gently kissed you on the lips before pulling back once more, a cheeky smile playing around his mouth. You returned the smile.

"I should think so..." you leaned forwards and kissed him, but made it just as short as he had.

"Ah, I didn't mean _exactly _that. I was thinking of a... longer version." He said, still smiling.

"You know Dom, I have absolutely no idea what you mean- I think you'll have to show me."

"With pleasure." And once again, he leaned in, though this time he kissed you properly, and you melted into his arms as the realisation swept over you: Dom was back, and he was _yours._


	13. Chapter XIII

_Matt's P.O.V_

I'd tried to keep up the old Matt that Dom had brought back, but it was a waste of time. I just sank back into misery. And it didn't help that I'd just walked in on Lou and Dom, in bed (well not in that sense), making out for all they were worth. God, I had to sort my life out.

I heard the door open, and Lou walked in. I'd been preparing myself for this, but I still felt so guilty and ashamed that I couldn't look her in the eye. I shifted about uncomfortably for a bit, looking at the floor. But she didn't say anything, just came up and hugged me. I considered pushing her off- I didn't deserve it and certainly wasnt in the mood- but it felt kinda nice so I hugged her back.

"You okay?" she said as she sat next to me on my bed.

"Yeah." I replied, lying through my teeth. She sighed.

"Matt..."

"I know."

"No, you don't. You don't know what I'm going to say."

"Look, I'm sorry. Can we just forget about this?"

"No! Matt, we're just back in the situation we were two years ago, only you're feeling even worse about yourself."

"I deserve it."

"No, you don't."

There was a pause.

"Listen, we could just... go back to how it was- I just wanted to make sure you were ok..." she said.

"Well... no we can't, and no I'm not. And I don't want you to make me feel better, which is the least I deserve. You should've killed me by now."

"Matt, you didn't rape me, y'know..."

"It feels worse than if I had."

She sighed again, frustrated.

"Do you still love me?" She said.

"Yes." I looked her in the eye. "But that doesn't matter... just carry everything on without me. I'll go and die somewhere and you'll all be much better o-"

"Will you stop talking about dying! Matt, what you did was not an immortal sin, okay? We'll go back to how we were before, and it'll sort itself out, just like it did last time."

"...yeah, and then it'll deteriorate, just like it did last time. And then there's the matter of you and Dom. You're in love, for god's sake! I'm just getting in the way of that, and it's not right. You two shouldn't give each other up for me any more. I- I'll move on. I will." I was trying to convince myself just as much as I was trying to convince her.

"Me and Dom... we'll sort things out..." she didn't sound sure.

"Your choice is this. Make all three of us miserable, or just dump it all on me."

"But that's not fair on you."

"Yes it is. I'm miserable either way, so I'll know no difference."

She almost smiled at my twisted logic. Almost.

"No. You're not leaving us. Or the band, which you seem to have forgotten. We'll... it'll be ok. And I didn't want to come in to sort that out, anyway! Matt-" she looked me in the eye. "I forgive you. I mean it. Forget it now, okay? Promise me you will-" she stopped short at the look on my face, and corrected herself: "Promise me you'll try."

I made an attempt at a smile. "I promise I'll try, Lou. But you and Dom can't hold back just for my sake. Promise me you won't do that." I knew it was the right thing to do, no matter how much it pained me to say it. They were meant for each other. I'd find someone... eventually...

"Ok... but I won't do anything if I can see it's hurting you."

"Deal." I'd have to bring my acting skills into play for that one... I managed to smile properly that time.

"Good." She smiled at me again, still looking at me as if she felt desperately sorry for me. I had to get out of there.

"I'm gonna... just..." I got up and walked (well, almost ran) out. _Great non-existant excuse there, Matt..._

_Your P.O.V_

A month later, you went back to Teignmouth, for another home-coming gig. The guys had sworn they'd do one every year, so here you were again. You immediately applied for the place in your job that was open all year every year- until you came back. Of course, you got in immediately.

"Good to see you back again..." said the manager, Katy-Anna. She was always there when you came back, and you could remember pretty much everyone else from last year, with one or two newbies.

"Everyone, our celebrity's back!" She said as your welcome, and as an afterthought: "I seriously don't know why you need the money, those men you livewithmust be millionaires!"

"Well... when we're on tour we're all living together in the tourbus and money isn't really an issue, and if we're recording an album then accomodation's payed for by that- it's just when we come back here we need a place to stay, so this money goes towards that, really. And food and everything..." you tried to explain it so it made sense. The real reason was that you still wanted to feel self-sufficient. As the boys payed for you the whole year round, you insisted on having one week where you could feel confident enough money-wise to refuse their offers.

"...Celebrity?" one of the new girls piped up.

"Yeah, for the rest off the year she's off running around with Muse, all over the world. What is it you do with them?" Katy said, and you answered her question.

"Oh, nothing really, I just set stuff up on stage, and I'm a bit of moral support I suppose... not like they need it really..." you always felt really embarrassed trying to explain things to people who didn't understand the kind of relationship you had with Matt, Chris and Dom.

"But... you said you lived with them. Do all the stage workers live with them?" the new girl asked. You didn't like her, already.

"Well, no, but I don't just work for them, they're my best mates, as well."

"And what do they pay you to do other than set up the stage, hmm?" She sent round a knowing look to the others, who seemed to be on her side.

"I'm sorry, are you jealous of me?" you said, sitting down at your desk.

"No, I'm just against sitting next to a potential prostitute, that's all..."

"Now come on Laura, we all know Lou, and I for one have seen her with some of those boys she's talking about- it's only friendship. But if you have a problem I'm sure Natalie'll swap with you." Katy-Anne said. You thanked her with a look, and tried to get all the papers sorted out on your desk that hadn't been touched for a year.

"Hi, I'm Natalie." The girl sat down next to you, and you realised she was new as well.

"Hey... Louisa." You said, smiling.

"Wow. That's pretty amazing... I mean, you knowing Muse..."

"Yeah... well it's ok, I suppose..."

"I love Muse... you're so lucky. They're doing a gig here tomorrow, right?" she said. She seemed quite shy, but you could tell she was a fan. She knew the gig was tomorrow, she was trying to get you to tell her more about them.

"Yeah." You decided to be nice. "Do you... want to meet them?" You had no idea what'd made you say that, but her face lit up and you felt kind of good.

"Really? That would be amazing... I wouldn't get in the way, would I?" her eyes were wide.

"Um... no..." But you knew she probably would if she came the night of the gig... the boys got really jumpy before a gig and probably wouldn't be at their nicest. Especially Matt. "Actually, why don't you come over tonight? That'd be easier."

"Tonight? Um... yeah... wow, thanks!" she seemed really hyper. You asked yourself again why you'd done this.

"That's ok, I'll give you the address." You wrote it out for her and she immediately put it in her purse, after a lot of faffing about with zips and velcro.

"Dont want to lose it... heh..." she tried and failed to make a joke out of it and settled with looking suitably embarrassed. You sighed, and turned to your work, with another burden on your shoulders.

**-Later on :)****  
**

You walked in and slung your bag on the sofa before promptly following it.

"That bad, was it?" Dom said from the corner, grinning.

"Loada bitches in a tiny little room. So yeah." You replied, smiling back. You and Dom hadn't been keeping an obvious relationship. It was confusing... you both knew you were in love and basically a couple, but you couldn't kiss or anything because of Matt. The guy in question had cheered up phenominally, but now everything he said involved a dark sense of humour that always seemed to involve death or sadness. Only Matt found it funny. But you were okay with that, at least he wasn't depressed any more.

"Oh... by the way, I've um... done a stupid thing." You sighed as Chris joined you and Dom in the kitchen.

"What's new there?" he said, his head in the fridge.

"Kick him for me, Dom..." you said absent-mindedly, and Chris' head went considerably further into the fridge, accompanied by a thud.

"Ta." you said, grinning at Chris' mumbled apologies as he rubbed his head.

"So what is this stupid thing then?" Dom asked, joining you on the sofa.

"Well... the boss made a big thing of the whole Muse thing, and this girl got really excited, she kind of had a thing about you lot, and I went and gave her this thing with the address on and she's... coming over tonight." you said, trying to get the words out as quickly as possible. Dom seemed to consider what you'd said for a moment before answering.

"Ok. Firstly, I'm amazed at how many times you managed to say the word 'thing' in that sentance. Secondly, what the hell? And thirdly, is she hot?" He leant back, seeming quite pleased with his speech.

"Well, firstly, thank you, I hadn't realised, secondly, I know, I'm sorry, moment of madness and all that, thirdly, I'm not really in a position to judge whether she's hot or not." you replied, equally pleased with your answer.

"Fine." He mumbled, which was his usual response whenever he couldn't think of anything else to say. It was cute.

"When's she coming then?" Chris asked, just as Matt walked in.

"Who?" He said, deciding to sit on Dom's lap.

"Lou's invited a fan round." Dom said, pushing Matt on to you.

"I was being nice" you said, pushing Matt on to the floor. He perked up immediately and sat cross legged, facing you and Dom. He didn't seem to have anything to say, but just sat there staring at you with one eyebrow raised.

"That's really creepy, Matt. And I' not sure when she's coming. I said 'tonight'... but I just gave her the address so..."

"What's her name?" Matt said, getting bored and spinning round on his ass. (My favourite past-time :P)

"Natalie, you strange child. I need a cup of tea." You stated, and got up to make one. Matt stole your seat.

_Matt's P.O.V_

I was in a really hyper mood that day. For some reason I decided to sit upside-down on the sofa with my head hanging over the edge and my feet in the air. Seriously, I don't know what drives me to do these things. But then the doorbell rang and it made me jump so much that I fell sideways, on to Dom (who wasn't happy), and kind of got a bit tangled up just as Lou opened the door. Dom quickly pushed me off in an attempt to look normal, so when this 'Natalie' walked in, I was in a heap on the floor. I always manage to give such _stunning_ first impressions. Once my head was the right way up, I could take a good look at her. She was a _pwoper_ fan _(;D)._ I could tell by the way she was staring at me with her mouth open... or maybe that was because I was still sprawled out on the floor? You never can tell...

"Hi. I'm Matt." I said, managing to stand up and shake her hand. She went all giggly and announced her name along with loads of "oh my god"'s and "thankyou so much"'s. Lou sure can pick 'em. She wasn't particularly good looking, but she had nice hair, and nice eyes, and a nice body, and her face was pretty, and... well, ok, she _was_ good looking. She introduced herself to the others, and we basically just sat there and talked about shit like the weather until we were interrupted by the phone. Dom answered it.

"Hello- yeah... SHIT!" we all jumped a mile as he hung up and screamed at us. "SOUNDCHECK! We were meant to be there TWO HOURS AGO!" There was a flurry of movement as we all remembered, and rushed to get there as quickly as possible. I was last out as I had to run to get my guitar, and I realised Natalie was still sat there, looking very confused.

"Um... you can come along if you want... it might be a bit boring though..." I said as I passed her.

"No, it's ok, I'll come along, as long as it won't be any trouble for me to be there..." she seemed to realise how out of place she was and looked a bit uncomfortable.

"It shouldn't be, and anyway, I insist. Come on, we can't be any later than we already are, we'll get murdered as it is!" I grinned at her. Hang on, what was I doing, _insisting_ on her to come with us? Maybe it was like when Lou invited her- she seemed to have something special about her...

God, if I'd known then what she'd mean to me now...


	14. Chapter IXV

_Natalie's P.O.V_

Wow. Soundcheck was only meant to be just that- checking the sound... but they were _amazing!_ Already I couldn't wait for the gig tomorrow night. And Oh My God... Matthew Bellamy is _rather_ gorgeous. I really hope I didn't come across as too much of a 'fan girl'-y type, cos usually I'm not, but I do have a soft spot for him. Louisa showed me around and was really nice, but she seemed very rushed considering she's not actually _in_ the band. And the other two, Dom and Chris- I felt a bit nervous around them, but they didn't say anything to me, so I didn't embarrass myself by speaking to them. When they were finally finished (the guy in charge was _really_ angry at how late they were), I wondered if I'd be going back with them or going home... no-one said anything to me and I began to realise just how out of place I was. I decided to just go home, it would be easier. But then I realised I didn't have my car with me- I'd walked to the house before and got a lift to the studio, and I had no idea where I was. ...oops. I looked around but all the others were leaving, they'd seemed to have forgotten me. But then I heard a voice behind me.

"Natalie, right?" Matt said. I tried to look normal, he really was _gorgeous._

_"_Yeah..." I replied, not quite sure where this was going.

"Um... d'you want a lift home?" he said, seeming to realise my situation.

"Um... yeah, that'd be great... sorry..." I said, really not wanting to get in the way. I felt so out of place- to him I was just another fan.

"It's no problem. I'll just tell the others. One sec..." He went off to find them before they went. I was trying not to hyperventilate- _I had a lift home with Matthew Bellamy!__  
_

_Your P.O.V_

You got back- without Matt, of course. Chris went off on his own, muttering that he had 'something to do', which just left you and Dom.

"Well, I think this is an excellent oppurtunity to make up for the past week." Dom said, pulling you into his arms. You smiled, and kissed him. You'd been doing this every time Matt was away, because you both found it very hard to hold back when you didn't have to.

As the kisses got more heated, you managed to say "Hey, don't get too into this, Matt'll be home soon, he's only giving Natalie a lift..." He didn't answer, just kissed you again and again.

"I love you Lou..."

"I love you too Dom..."

Too soon, you heard a car engine outside, and you broke off and pulled into a hug. As the key turned in the lock you both arranged yourselves so it'd look like nothing happened, but when Matt walked in he looked pretty preoccupied anyway. He walked straight past you without looking or saying a word.

"S'up with him?" Dom asked you quietly.

"Dunno... maybe something happened while he was giving her a... lift..." you trailed off as you thought about it. It wasn't unlikely that Matt had made a move on Natalie... Dom seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he grinned at you, and he was quick to convey your ideas to Chris as he came downstairs.

Over the next few weeks your suspicions continued to arise as Matt decided to 'go out for a walk' more and more often. When this happened for about the twentieth time, you and Dom were in a childish mood and decided to follow him. Sure enough, he was meeting up with Natalie. They appeared to know eachother quite well by now, and as you watched them kiss from your hiding place behind the bush, you whispered to Dom "why is he keeping this a secret?"

"I dunno... maybe he thinks that _we'll_ think something bad of him if he's fallen for a fan... But if he likes her then..." he didn't voice his thoughts but you knew that you were both thinking the same thing: If Matt met someone he was happy with, it might mean the end of you and Dom having to sneak around.

In the end you both confronted him about it. Well, you kind of ambushed him on his way home, but still...

"_We_ saw what you were up to!" Dom said triumphantly after you'd jumped out on Matt. He looked a bit surprised, but then decided just to act like he had no idea what you were on about.

"I was going for a walk. Just like I said."

"...yeah, ok Matt, we saw you and Natalie." you said, and he gave up.

"Fine... we're going out. Laugh at me all you want."

"Why'd we laugh at you?" Dom said.

"Well... because she's just a normal girl to you lot, I mean I only met her a couple of weeks ago so you might've thought..."

You cut him off. "Matt, we don't think _any_ worse of you, ok? It's fine, honest."

"Yeah. Bring her round or something next time, you don't need to keep it a secret..." Dom said, backing you up, and you seemed to win him over.

"Well... ok then, but _please_ don't fuck this up. I _do_ like her. A lot. Promise you won't do anything?" He seemed a bit embarrassed at admitting he liked her, but you had to say it was rather cute.

"We promise." Dom said solemnly, his hand on his heart. He nudged you, and you did the same. Matt smiled, shaking his head, and you all made your way home.


	15. Chapter XV

_Your P.O.V_

Another two months passed, and Matt and Natalie were _really_ cute together. They weren't exactly the perfect couple, but they fit together in a kind of quirky way. One day after the two month mark, you were sitting at the piano with nothing much to do, and Matt came rushing in, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Whoa, Matt, where's the fire?" you said, slightly alarmed.

"I'm going to ask her to marry me!" he squealed, pulling you into a hug.

"Wait-_what?_ Did I hear you right?"

"Yep! And I have _no_ idea how to do it!" He beamed.

"A-and you've come to me for help?"

"Yep!"

"Matt, I'm no expert..."

"Yeah... but you're a _girl!_ Girls know about these things. And I can hardly ask Nat, can I?" He chattered away, seemingly oblivious to your expression.

"Matt... do you have a ring? That might be a good start." you said, trying to calm him down.

"Oh yeah, I've got the ring and everything..." He frowned. "I just can't work out what to say... or _when_, or _how_, or..." he trailed off. "See? I'm in a dilemma. And _you're _going to help me." he finished. You sighed.

"Listen Matt. You just need to be romantic, and I'm sure you're capable of that... and it doesn't _have_ to be fancy or anything, you could just wait until sunset or something and ask her then- if she's into that kind of thing... And don't say anything strange, just ask her straight, use her full name, um..." you trailed off, but Matt didn't seem to mind.

"See, I wouldn't have got _any_ of that if I'd have asked Dom for help..." Matt said, looking grateful.

"Asked me what?" Dom said, stepping in. Matt hissed at him to close the door, then told him the news. Immediately Dom's face split into a wide grin.

"Marriage, huh? You sure?"

"Dom, leave him alone." You didn't want Dom to ruin this for Matt.

"What do you mean, am I sure?" Matt said, looking uncertain.

"Matt, just ignore him, he's being a prick. Come on, tell me what you're going to do." you said before Dom could speak.

"Fine!" Dom said, and turned to go.

"You're best man, you know!" Matt blurted out, and Dom stopped for a second at the door. You could see he was smiling again.

"Thanks, Matt." This time he went out, and you were left with a very excitable yet nervous Matt.

"Can I see the ring?" you asked. He had it in his pocket, and took it out, handing you the small box.

"Wow..." you gasped as you saw it- it was truly beautiful. "You didn't hold back on the money, huh? Come on, how much?"

"Ah, I'm not telling you that. But this is going to be one special wedding."

"And a very expensive one too..." you were still marvelling at the ring, it was a simple gold band with diamonds arranged in a flower shape on top.

"Only the best," Matt grinned. "So..." he replayed back to you what he'd be saying to Natalie.

He wanted to do it tonight, apparently, and when the time grew closer that evening he began to get a little jumpy. Natalie was round quite a lot these days, and tonight she thought Matt had just invited her over as usual. But finally you, Dom and Chris all made your excuses at sunset and crept inside, smiling and winking at Matt. You waited in the living room with bated breath, and eventually you heard the announcement "I need to ask you something..." you grinned at Chris, and when the question was finally voiced you all gripped eachother's hands, even though you knew what the answer was going to be. And when she finally said yes, you all ran screaming into the back garden and jumped on them, not giving them a moment's privacy. But you knew you weren't just celebrating their wedding: you were finally able to celebrate yours and Dom's freedom.

The wedding organisation was _lethal._ Matt had left it entirely to Natalie, but she didn't mind one bit as it had been her request in the first place. She was going for a gold and white theme, to match the ring, and you were heavily involved. It was going to take place in a posh hotel somewhere in London, and then Matt had confided in you that he would take her to his house in Italy, which she didn't even know existed yet. Natalie was sorting out location and people, and once she had chosen the colours and theme she left the bridesmaid dresses and jewellery etc. down to you. There would be three bridesmaids, including you as the maid of honour, and the two others were twin neices of Natalie's. Eventually you chose gold dresses, as Natalie's wedding dress had gold stitching on it which would be picked out by the bridesmaids' golden dresses. The location of the wedding was really posh. You'd already been there with Nat to work out the size- to fit a massive dancefloor, but you had no idea what the decor was going to be like.

But you _did _know that the whole wedding was going to be absolutely perfect. Matt would make sure of that with the money, and Natalie with the organization. And it would finally mark the day that you and Dom would be free to be _properly_ together. You couldn't wait.


	16. Chapter XVI  finale

_Your P.O.V_

When you got there you were absolutely stunned. The place looked like a palace! Natalie was getting really nervous as you were doing her hair, but you managed to convince her that it'd be fine. The whole process of getting ready went so quickly, and in _no_ time you were on. Natalie led the way, looking absolutely _stunning_, and you and her two neices- Laura and Steph- followed behind. It was so romantic, you could see that Matthew and Natalie had completely fallen for eachother. The vows were done, and the rings were on, and they were kissing, and then suddenly everyone was on their feet, running to try and be the first to congratulate. Suddenly you felt arms round your waist, and a voice you knew and loved well whispered in your ear.

"You look absolutely _perfect_." Dom said. You turned round to face him.

"Thanks, Dom..." he leaned in to kiss you, but you stopped him. "We'd better not... if Matt sees and it even annoys him in the slightest... I really don't want to ruin his wedding."

Dom sighed. "Agreed. I want them both to be happy today. And we always have tonight..." He smiled and winked at you, and then you both went to congratulate Matt and Natalie.

The party was incredible- the dancefloor was golden and massive, and Matt and Natalie were almost lost in it on their first dance. But it soon filled up with the masses of friends and relatives, and suddenly you realised why they'd needed such a big hall. You were a bit stuck as to who to dance with, as you were talking to some of Natalie's family, and couldn't see anyone you knew. But then you spotted Matt heading towards you. He took you by the shoulders and steered you away.

"_You_, miss Marwick, are going to dance with Dominic." He said as he forced you across the room.

"Aw, do I _have_ to?" you joked as you finally spotted Dom. He seemed to have been warned of Matt's determination in getting you to dance, and it was a little awkward as you were both left standing there, unsure what to do.

"Go on, the best man and the maid of honour _have_ to dance together. It's the… erm- rules!" Matt said, pushing you and Dom closer together. You obliged, trying not to look too eager. All you wanted to do was wrap your arms around Dom and kiss him- but that was a little forward, and you didn't want to ruin Matt's wedding. So you politely placed your hands on his shoulders, and he placed his on your waist, smiling a little, as he was fighting the same battle you were. You casually danced away from Matt and Natalie, and once you weren't in the vicinity of anyone you knew _that_ well, Dom bent down and whispered in your ear.

"I don't think anyone'll mind _too_ much if you put your arms round my neck…" he whispered, smiling suggestively. As he'd spoken, he'd wrapped his arms tightly round your waist, pulling you in close to him, and kind of forcing you to do as he said otherwise your elbows would be sticking out at a rather strange angle. But you didn't mind, and willingly did as he said. His face was very close to yours now, and the temptation was almost unbearable. You bit your lip as he stared into your eyes, and he laughed, muttering "God, I know…"

A couple of minutes passed with you just staring into each other's eyes, desperately trying not to let yourselves go. A new song started- 'Always A Woman' by Fyfe Dangerfield, and you continued to dance, not wanting to let each other go.

"Matt sure can pick 'em…" Dom said as he recognised the song.

"Ah, this'll be Natalie's choice. She was obsessed with this song." You replied. He smiled.

"God Lou, I seriously don't care what anyone thinks any more. I have to kiss you. Now."

You were surprised, but didn't really hold anything against the idea- you just wanted to kiss him too. You realised he was moving you gradually yet purposefully in a certain direction, and when he stopped you looked up and saw the grand chandelier exactly above your head.

"Right in the middle? Dom, are you sure?" You didn't like being _that_ much in the centre of attention.

"Yeah… it'll be fine. And it'll make it more special." He smiled your favourite smile, and you had to give in.

"God Dom, I love you…" you whispered as you closed your eyes.

"I love you too…" He replied, and gently kissed you. You'd stopped dancing now, and were just holding each other tightly, lost in the moment. It had to be one of the most perfect kisses you and Dom had ever shared. You were aware that people had stopped dancing and there was a circle forming around you of people watching. You normally would've collapsed in embarrassment, but Dom was there with you so it was ok. You sighed into the kiss and Dom responded; opening your mouth with his and running his tongue along your bottom lip. As he slowly began to work his tongue into your mouth, he suddenly tipped you back so you were leaning over backwards, supported only by his arms. He was still kissing you, and he muttered "It's ok, I've got you…"

You kissed him back passionately, your arms wrapped tighter around his neck, and whispered "I know…"

Even though you both wanted it to, the kiss couldn't last forever, and Dom reluctantly lifted you back up straight as the kisses got less heated. When it ended you didn't pull back far, and only had eyes for each other as you smiled, completely lost in the magnitude of your love. You realised that the people around you had started to clap and wolf-whistle and all sorts of nonsense, but you hardly noticed as Dom stroked your face and told you he loved you. Then, when the noise got louder, you dared to look over Dom's shoulder, and saw Matt and Natalie coming towards you. You told Dom and he sheepishly turned around, as they stopped in front of you. Matt held out his hand and dropped something into Dom's.

"Second floor." Matt said, winked, and walked back the way he came. As Dom said "Thankyou…" to no-one in particular, you realised he was holding a key. Then your mind registered that you were in a hotel, and you began to realise Matt's plan.

"Come on, you," Dom said, and pulled you towards the stairs. The wolf-whistles got worse and you were_ very _glad to get out of there. As you passed Matt and Natalie, and Chris and Kelly, they were all grinning like idiots at you, and you realised you and Dom had been fools to have tried to hide what you had.

"Dom… they looked a little smug" You said, as the noise of the hall left you. He smiled.

"I know." The way he said it made you wonder if he was in on all this… if _you_ were the one he was trying to hide something from. But you cast your fears aside as he unlocked room 42 and you stepped inside. There was absolutely _nothing_ in the room besides an insignificant chest of drawers by the door, and a _massive_ bed in the centre.

_Dom's P.O.V_

"Not bad…" I said from the doorway, while Lou took an almighty leap on to the bed. I _had_ planned all this, I will admit, but I couldn't keep the bigger secret for much longer. Matt played his part particularly well, I must say. I don't think Lou suspected anything. But she looked so irresistible on the bed, and I couldn't help but join her, and she seemed to understand the _main_ purpose of this room, at least. She kissed me, and I was in absolute bliss, but I knew I had something important to say before I _completely_ let myself go.

"Lou, I need to do something…" I got up and walked over to the side of the bed. Matt had been telling the truth- it was _massive._ "And you need to sit _here_, on the side." I said, patting the space. As soon as she was there, I fished around in my pocket and found the little black box that signified the rest of my life. I'd wanted to do this the traditional way- so I got down on one knee and brought the box into her view. She looked absolutely astonished- so I _had_ kept the secret well. I didn't bother with any of the frills people sometimes added, like 'will you do me the utmost pleasure of becoming my wife' or anything like that. It seemed a bit tacky. I just smiled at her, and said:

"Louisa Marwick. Will you marry me?"

_Your P.O.V_

You were stunned. You just went with the absolute first thing that came into your head, and all of a sudden you realised you'd jumped on him, screaming "YES DOMINIC HOWARD I WILL MARRY YOU!" You both rolled over and over on the floor, and finally you ended up on top of him and was just about to kiss him senseless when he cleared his throat, looking at the door.

There stood Matt and Natalie, both laughing their heads off and looking rather smug.

"Go away!" you shouted and tried to kiss Dom again, but he pushed you back.

"You knocked the ring out of my hands, Lou..." he too was smiling at your reaction.

"Oh. Oops." You got off him, blushing furiously, and Matt managed to locate the ring on the floor- thankfully the box had snapped shut so it was safe. As he handed it to you he muttered "Thought I'd pay you back for eavesdropping on me when I proposed." He smiled. "Have fun..." and with a wink, he shut the door behind him.

"Oy." Dom said, still on the floor.

"Yes?"

"Lock the door." He smiled, and chucked you a key, and you willingly turned it in the lock. By now he was in the bed, and you joined him, climbing in and pulling the duvet up over your heads. He took you in his arms and kissed you, and it was absolute heaven. He whispered "Thankyou so much for saying yes, you don't know how much it means to me..."

You interrupted. "Dom, shut up."

He looked confused. "Why?"

"Because I wasn't going to say no, was I? And anyway, you're wasting time."

"Wasting time..." you weren't sure if he was faking the confusion or if it was real, so you decided to spell it out.

"Dominic Howard. I wanna have your babies." you said in a serious tone.

He smiled. "Well..." he replied, and you could feel his hands move agonizingly slowly up to the zip at the top of your dress before he spoke again.

"Let's get started."


End file.
